


If Things Were Different

by space_coffee



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: AU, AU where the protag and Akechi met when they were younger, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Canon-Typical Violence, Childhood Friends, Eventual Romance, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Humor, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Mutual Pining, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Panic Attacks, Persona 5 Protagonist is from Inaba, Pining, Rating May Change, Slow Burn, Some of the palaces are different than the ones in canon, Touch-Starved, some characters are introduced differently from canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-08
Updated: 2020-09-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:54:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 51,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24618679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/space_coffee/pseuds/space_coffee
Summary: Growing up with everyone in your hometown means that they know all the weird phases you had growing up, but he also knew theirs so he didn’t really worry about it. Plus Akira had always been on the quiet side, cracking jokes every now and then, but mainly portraying how he felt through actions. He didn’t really have any secrets to hide, being the twelve year old boy that he was. Not that any of that really mattered, there wasn’t going to be anyone new to impress at school, because there wouldn’t be any new kids there.So obviously, when his mom called him down and told him that there was a new boy who had just moved in a couple houses down from theirs, he was shocked.AU where Akechi and Akira meet when they're kids, before the main plot of Persona 5!
Relationships: Akechi Goro/Amamiya Ren, Akechi Goro/Kurusu Akira, Akechi Goro/Persona 5 Protagonist, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added, Shuake - Relationship, akeshu
Comments: 145
Kudos: 475





	1. Prologue

The last few days of summer were always a drag, not like Akira was doing much with his time anyway, but he preferred freedom. He saw summer as an opportunity to waste his time as he wished, rather than sitting at a desk all day having a teacher lecture at him. The current dilemma he faced however was wondering if the middle school desks were in fact bigger than the ones at the elementary school. His most recent growth spurt had left him with a cramped amount of legroom and in an infuriating chair that had a back that was just a tad too short for him to sit comfortably in anymore. 

Perhaps if he lived in a big town or the city maybe he would be excited or nervous about meeting new people in his class. Or the possibility of making a “new” impression on strangers, striving to improve himself or at least his social image. But, considering how small Inaba was, and how he’s known most of the kids his age since they were about five years old, it didn’t cross his mind. Growing up with everyone in your hometown means that they know all the weird phases you had growing up, but he also knew theirs so he didn’t really worry about it. Plus Akira had always been on the quiet side, cracking jokes every now and then, but mainly portraying how he felt through actions. He didn’t really have any secrets to hide, being the twelve year old boy that he was. Not that any of that really mattered, there wasn’t going to be anyone new to impress at school, because there wouldn’t be any new kids there.

So obviously, when his mom called him down and told him that there _was_ a new boy who had just moved in a couple houses down from theirs, he was shocked. People only ever moved away from Inaba, and usually never the opposite. The city was just so grand in comparison, with the massive amount of people, stores, and things to do. Contrasting the two, Inaba looked like a little backwater town. He bet that if you blinked while driving by it you would miss it, and never once would you bother to think about it again.

“He’s also starting at the middle school this upcoming term, so I offered that you’d walk with him to school,” his mom gave him a look as her voice had a strict demeanor behind it. Akira nodded and gave a soft ‘okay’ in response. Happy with that answer she continued on, “ Make him feel welcomed, he doesn’t know anybody in town. He’s probably shaken up from moving so suddenly.”

The boy tilted his head to the side in confusion at that, but his mother offered no further explanation and instead went back to her magazine, flipping through the pages boredly. Akira gave her another sound of confirmation and then padded off, unnoticed.

~ ~ ~

The morning of the new term, he was feeling a bit antsy. As he’s walking towards the end of the block, where the new kid lives, the neck of his new middle school uniform felt itchy, his socks were too snug, and an unexpected wave of anxiety washed through him (whether it was excited energy, or scared, he couldn’t tell). During the final days of summer he didn’t get a chance to talk to the new kid, he hadn’t even seen him yet. It bummed him out because he wanted to get a chance to assess the new kid before walking with him to school, just in case he was totally weird. Also he didn’t really want to be caught being seen with anybody giving off bad vibes. There was a known grapevine of gossip and rumors around the small town, and being labeled as someone who “hangs out with trouble” is not something he wanted to deal with right now (Not to mention his mom would get on him for it, as she also was an active participant in the gossip chain around town) . But also, the more selfish side of him wanted to test the waters before anybody else got the chance to. This kid could be new potential friend material, and hell if he was going to pass that up.

Akira, by no measure, was considered popular. He wasn’t a complete loner, often joining the neighborhood kids in their games in the street, or tagging along with groups- but he didn’t have anyone that he would consider a good friend. Just many acquaintances that he grew up alongside, but nobody he would ever call his best friend, or single out to hang out with in general. He found a lot of the kids in his town were- for a lack of better words- pretty stereotypical, and therefore predictable and dull. There were the kids who did sports and were popular, the clique of girls who talked about everyone behind their backs, the loud “funny” kid in class, teacher pets who were model students, shy reserved kids who liked to read or draw more than talk, the bullies who had fun by tormenting others, and the outcasts and loners who seemed to long to fit in… It was kind of exhausting, especially since he felt like he didn’t belong among the ranks of the others in his grade. Maybe he was just _a_ _little desperate_ for change, and a fresh face in his life. It had always been an absurd wish of his- _that is, until now._

To the best of his ability he shoved down the tingling ball of anxious needles that prickled in his belly, and straightened out his shoulders as he walked up to the front door of the new boy’s home. He was fine. He didn’t have trouble talking to people before, so that wasn’t going to start now. Before he could psych himself out, he knocked on the door, and stood there. The nervousness he thought he had buried, crept back up as he waited, his hand reached up and fiddled with his hair in an attempt to distract himself. 

_‘Please don’t be scary, with tattoos, or messed up teeth’_ his mind echoed loudly in his ears. The intrusive thoughts he had were popping back up, taking advantage of the silence. He nearly jumped when the door swung open and an older woman peaked out.

“Are you Kurusu-san’s son?” her voice crooned.

He nodded, still a little too jumpy to talk.

That was apparently enough ‘said’ on his part. She hummed and then ducked back inside of her home, and came back a moment later opening the door completely to reveal a boy. As far as looks went, Akira was relieved to see that the kid did not outwardly appear scary (no tattoos or freaky teeth as far as he could tell). In fact nothing about him really seemed to stick out too much, other than he looked a bit tired. What looked like dark circles were under his uniquely rust colored eyes. Akira must have been staring for too long because the boy seemed to notice, and glared back in a questioning way. Actually it was more likely to be in annoyance, from the way the kid’s eyebrows pinched downward.

“Introduce yourself-” the order left the woman’s mouth after a stark second of silence.

“I’m Akechi Goro, nice to meet you.” The boy’s burnt ocher eyes held his gaze as he gave a short bow.

Akira returned the gesture, breaking the increasingly uncomfortable eye contact as he did so. “Kurusu Akira.” he mumbled, feeling embarrassed.

“Well off you two go, have a good day at school.” Suddenly the door shut behind the boy, and it was just the two of them, and the relatively short walk to school they had together. Well, that felt abrupt, maybe even rude, but he was too concerned with the kid in front of him to really reflect on it.

Unsure of what to say, Akira tilted his head in the direction he planned to walk and raised an eyebrow, in question. It seemed to communicate his point as the new ki- _Akechi_ (he corrects in his head) as he walks down the steps of the house with him and onto the street. Not being a super talkative person, and definitely not someone with a penchant for small talk, Akira juggled through a couple topics in his head. Thankfully, Akechi seemed just as impatient to break the silence.

“So you’ve lived here your whole life?” The way he said that question felt like he had added a _‘why?’_ to the end of it. Red eyes seemed to scan his face for a reaction, waiting for some sort of tell. A tell for what, he didn’t know.

“Yep.” Solid answer.

“Is it always this… _calm?”_ Again with the slightly pretentious attitude, that Akira was ignoring for now.

“Pretty much, yeah.” 

That answer seemed to equally frustrate Akechi, as well as bore him. A soft sigh left his nose as he glanced at Akira again.

“You’re one with words, huh-” That was a little mean, but deserved it if he had to be honest.

“Something like that,” Akira threw him a teasing smile, and then paused for a moment before starting again. “It’s nice if you like seeing the same people doing the same things the entire year-”

“Do _you_ like it?”

Akira chanced a look at Akechi and saw that he was still intensely examining him- well that was unnerving. He hummed and then ultimately shrugged.

“Dunno...” Without even realizing it, his hand was again playing with his hair again, twisting it between his fingers. “It’s pretty boring here.” A little bit of his honesty slipping out.

“Huh,” an unnecessary sound in Akira’s opinion, “So you don’t really like it here then-” he finished that sentence in a matter of fact tone. 

Akira laughed and looked away from Akechi, and nodded.

“Yeah, you caught me.” He looked back to the new kid, “Honestly, I was surprised to hear that somebody my age moved here. Usually when we get new people they’re retirees, or people burnt-out from city-life.”

“I thought as much…”

The small frown that hung on Akechi’s face bothered Akira. It didn’t seem angry, or even upset, but seemed to be one of defeat. “What was the last place you lived in like then?” He piped up, hoping to distract the boy from whatever was eating at him. It worked somewhat as the frown turned to a closed lipped smile. Akira wanted to say that it was an improvement, but the lingering frustration in it made him think otherwise.

“It was similar to here, somewhere in the country, not a lot of people. I didn’t like it.” He flatly said. Those bitter red eyes looked away, and then hesitantly looked back up to reconnect with a silver gaze, slightly softer than before. All Akira could respond was with a hum and a nod, unsure of what to say. It felt like there was something else there in Akechi’s response, but he couldn’t tell what. Just that it seemed sore, and freshly bruised, if his tone was anything to go by.

After another couple minutes of walking in silence ( _and Akira noticing that Akechi was still inspecting him from the corner of his eye, sometimes making eye contact and pretending that it didn’t happen_ ), they finally made it to the school. From there it was the same old-same old; an assembly to welcome students back to class, meeting his homeroom teacher, listening to some lectures, lunch (which he spent picking at the rice in his bento his mom packed him), and then he found himself after his final class prepping to go home. The only major difference was that the school was requiring him to pick a club to join, which he hadn’t even considered before going to class today. He didn’t mind the idea, not like he did much outside of school anyway, he just wasn’t sure what he wanted to do. Akira wasn’t particularly skilled or good at anything, he mostly did things as long as they were entertaining enough to keep his attention.

At the moment though, he was more interested in seeing how the newest addition to the school had fared. Unfortunately, Akechi wasn’t in the same class as him, so he hasn’t seen him since they parted ways this morning at the school gates. He should have asked if he wanted to walk back together earlier, feeling almost lonely as he walked past the school gates by himself. That was until he saw the small debacle going on maybe 10 meters away.

Akira wasn’t sure what Akechi did during school, or maybe it was just because he was new, but an obviously larger kid (an upperclassman in the middle school) was blocking his path. The two of them seemed to be engaged in a one-sided conversation, the older kid looking down and saying things (probably threats and nasty things) to the brunette. Akira knew because this asshole had been bothering him and other kids in his grade last year too. Liked to use his big frame to push others around and get free lunches. He could feel the anger bubble up under his skin, and even though he was smaller the rational voice in his head was starting to shut up. As he started approaching, ready to insert himself into whatever was going on, he heard something that made him stop. It sounded venomous, and as quickly as he heard it it was gone. Next thing he knew, Akechi seemed to trot off past the bully, no problem. The older kid didn’t look scared, but more so surprised and maybe impressed, lacking any more words to call out.

Akira was also impressed. Maybe Akechi was actually trouble, and he had misjudged him this morning. The sound he heard sounded more akin to a dog growling than human speech, but he was still a considerable distance away from where they had been. He almost stopped to ask the bully what Akechi had said to him while he walked by him, his curiosity flaring up insanely.

~ ~ ~

The next day rolled over, and Akira was waiting on the front door steps of Akechi’s house again. A few minutes later and Akechi, who seemed to be in a rush, opened and then as quietly as possible closed the door behind him. The sound of bickering adults behind him becoming quieter as he did so. As soon as he saw Akira though he seemed to loosen up, and clopped down the porch stairs to meet him. 

“Mornin,’” Akira unconsciously said in a whispery tone.

“Good morning.” Akechi half-greeted-half-yawned, which he then stifled with the side of his hand. The two of them fell into a comfortable silence after that, the dark coloring under Akechi’s eyes more apparent today than when he had first seen him. Now that Akira actually was able to look at him without feeling like a creep, he noticed that he just wasn’t tired, but actually pretty skinny looking as well. His face seemed a bit gaunt for a kid his age, only round in places due to baby fat that hadn’t been molded into anything yet. His uniform didn’t fit him very well, the sleeves being too long, and the pants ending a few inches above his ankles, revealing his white socks. It made Akira a bit uncomfortable actually, weren’t the adults in Akechi’s home taking care of him? 

He must have been staring too long again because he suddenly noticed that that irritated expression he had seen yesterday, had plastered itself upon the brunette’s face again. 

_“Yes?”_ Akechi’s voice curling into a hiss at the last syllable. God, this guy switched from peaceful to ‘ready to fight’ fast. Clearly caught, Akira resorted to the one other thing that had been bugging him, other than Akechi’s physical appearance. 

“S-so what’d you say to that bully yesterday? I’ve never seen him freeze up like that- it was impressive.” The boy next to him seemed to puff up at that a little, enjoying the compliment. A little smile twisted at the corners of his mouth.

“Nothing much, he threatened me, told me that he’d ‘thrash me’ if I didn't watch myself. So I told him that I would love to see him try. He must have got the message, because he didn’t follow me afterward, but I’m assuming you saw that already.” The contrast of the floaty, almost sing-songy way Akechi explained the situation and what he had seen yesterday felt a bit surreal. But he wasn’t going to say anything. If Akechi had a mean streak, he wasn’t going to interfere with that, plus it seemed to be working in the other boy’s favor _so good for him_. Akira still wishes he could have seen the expression to match the livid tone of voice he heard though, to complete the picture.

Akira hums in amusement, “Yeah, I’m glad you got him to back off. He’s a total jerk, he stole a bunch of stuff from other kids last year and the teachers didn’t do anything about it because it ‘happened outside of school’.” Akechi seemed put off by that, the annoyed look making a resurgence in his brow.

“I’m not really surprised sadly, most adults would rather not get involved with anything that doesn’t immediately concern them, or benefit them.”

There it was again. Akira could feel it picking at the back of his head, that there was something there, and it was something wrong, and buried just beneath the surface of Akechi’s sour statement. He felt his chest clench and so badly he wanted to ask him what his words meant. 

“Yeah, you’re right.” He gave him a smile.

Akira couldn’t help but feel like a coward for the rest of the day at school.

~ ~ ~

Tomorrow had come, and the new routine that the two had of meeting up and walking together had become familiar. Today’s conversation thankfully didn’t hit any angry or bitter subjects, and instead the two discussed TV and anime they had both seen before. It was fun. Talking mindlessly about which character was their favorite, and what parts of the cartoon they thought were cool was a nice change of pace. _(Akira also found out that Akechi apparently liked Gray Pigeon the best out of the Featherman cast.)_ Before the two split off at the gates like usual, the bedhead stopped the other boy, surprising the both of them. He hadn’t expected to do that, but here they were.

“Um-” nice, a good start, “-would you want to walk home together?” he finished, the words coming out by themselves, like his mouth went on autopilot and his brain was hanging back and observing if anything. Akechi blinked at him, no real expression in his face, and then the smallest lopsided smile broke free.

“Yeah, I’d like that.” He nodded, chestnut hair falling in his eyes as he did so. Hands quickly swiped it away from his face, as if it offended him. Being caught off guard, Akira nodded with a quiet “cool”, waving goodbye as he dashed off to class. His mind still reeling and trying to process why he’d bothered with any of that, and why he felt like his heart was going to explode. It didn’t help that when he sat down at his desk, the girl sitting to his right gave him a once-over and asked him why he was so flushed. 

~ ~ ~

From then on, everyday for the next couple of weeks, Akira showed up at Akechi’s house in the morning and the two would walk together to class. Akechi seemed to appreciate his company, even if he didn’t explicitly state it after Akira had asked him about it. His shoulders would slacken and his stance would relax after walking away from his home or school, to join the fluffy mophead on their walks. Soon it became a highlight of Akira’s daily schedule to listen to Akechi ramble about the books he’s been reading in his free time, stuff that happened during school, or anything else that had caught his interest. Every once in a while, that same barely contained rage found its way into Akechi’s words. And every time Akira found himself floundering on what to say about it. He wanted to know what was up, so he could help, but it felt out of place for him to so openly ask about something the other boy hadn’t explicitly told him about. From their talks though, he found out that Akechi had joined the Book Club at their school, and was excited to have access to more novels. He was especially interested in classic literature at the moment, telling Akira all about how he finished reading _The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood_ and _Treasure Island_ (both were books that Akira had heard of, but hadn’t read but the way Akechi gushed about them made him _almost_ want to read them during his free time.) 

One day, during their ‘walk-and-talks’ Akechi let it slip that his guardians (the man and woman he was living with were his great aunt and uncle) made him make his own lunches, but there was rarely anything in the house to make anything out of. Most days Akira would find Akechi with bread that he managed to buy with pocket change he scrounged around for, or he wouldn’t eat at all. Akira often ended up sharing portions of his lunch with him, but knew it wasn’t enough, especially since Akechi hadn’t seemed to put on any weight since he met him. 

No friend of his was going to be hungry, thus this discovery led to Akira asking his mom how to make packed lunches. After the initial interrogation about _why_ he wanted to learn how to make food, and the deflections that Akira gave as answers ( “No mom, I swear I just really want to make my own food.”), she agreed to teach him. Many trials and errors later (who knew you could burn rice so easily) he finally made something that tasted decent. It was by no means great, but it was fresh, and he was hoping that the thought and effort he put into it would be more meaningful than the flavor of the food. Especially since Akechi has apparently been going hungry since he arrived here (which made something in Akira’s head burn and simmer).

However, Akira realized once that he was with Akechi that morning, walking to class as usual, he didn’t know how to breach the subject casually. It also did not help that Akechi caught him staring again, amidst Akira’s silent internal conflict.

“What, am I really that interesting?” He said in a joking manner. Truly, the frizzy haired boy was glad that Akechi enjoyed teasing him now since the two of them got to know each other better. Akira however, felt his panicky nerves kick in and he did the first thing his scattered mind mused up. His hand reached out and brushed off the top of Akechi’s bangs, the other boy standing stock still as he did so.

“You had a leaf in your hair-” 

“O-oh, thank you.”

An okay save in his book. Not the smoothest thing ever, but it did the job as the two of them continued their trek to school. Akira may have avoided directly looking at Akechi the rest of the way, wanting to avoid another situation like that. The brunette seemed confused by his behavior but didn’t bring it up, thank goodness.

Being a panicky weirdo in the morning however did him little good as he walked to where he and Akechi usually met up to have lunch together (there was a bench outside under a big shady tree that Akechi was fond of). He had both of the lunches he made in his hands, and when he saw Akechi sitting on his usual side of the bench, reading a new book, he felt a little jittery. So instead of letting his brain panic and think about it anymore, he planted himself down on his side of the bench (spooking the reading boy next to him as he hopped in place, and cleared his throat), and then placed the second bento in Akechi’s lap.

“Here.”

He avoided meeting his gaze and instead went to opening his own lunch and shoving some rolled omelet into his mouth. Chewing softly, he chanced a look back over at the oddly silent boy next to him and nearly choked. Akechi’s eyes were glossy and wet, but he wasn’t yet crying, like he was holding himself back from doing so. His lashes blinked away the tears and he shyly turned to Akira, not looking up from the lunch.

“Now I know why you were acting so jumpy this morning,” he laughed, “Thank you Kurusu-kun, I really mean it.”

“You can call me Akira, if you want.” He pitched in. A warm fuzzy feeling building in his chest.

“Sure, then call me Goro.” A big grin adorning his face, reaching his crimson eyes. In his ribcage, Akira was sure that the rhythm of his heart fluttered for a second.

When Akira went home that day he decided that if he could see Ake- _Goro_ (he corrected himself happily) be happy like that more, then it was worth spending the extra time in the day preparing a lunch for him. Especially since Goro, in the most refined manner possible, wolfed down his food as fast as he could. It also may have spurred him on to finally join a club, so he could practice making better food. 

When the president of the Culinary Club saw him roll up to their door the next day at school, she welcomed him with open arms, excited to have another person in their ranks. He may have nearly caused a fire during his first club meeting, where they were practicing how to pan fry vegetables, but the other members told him that over time he would get better. He certainly hoped so, if the charred mush that he shamefully scrapped into the garbage was anything to go by.

~ ~ ~

It has been about a month and a half since school started, _and_ since Akira met Goro. The two ended up spending a lot of time with each other, inside and outside of school, nowadays. To the point that others started to notice, or more specifically Mrs. Kurusu noticed. Her son, who she was used to coming home right after school to drop his stuff off and change, now would come home much later most days. His attitude was bright and cheery, often his face was a little pink from smiling or laughing, and the happy pep in his gait was quite different from the somewhat neutral and calm disposition that she had seen Akira in for the past few years. Not to mention he had insisted that she would teach him how to make his own lunch, which at first she attributed to him wanting to seem more mature or independent. Well, at least until she saw him slipping two packed bentos into his backpack every morning for the past three weeks. It didn’t take a genius to know that Akira was making lunches for his friend, as he would often happily tell her about his new buddy during dinner.

A cold fear rushed through her. She didn’t want to assume anything, but she could feel a nasty feeling pick at the back of her brain. When she had received the phone call from her neighbors down the street, she was more confused than surprised to hear that they had taken in a kid. From her experience of living in Inaba, in the same house, for the past 20 years she knew that the couple that lived in that house weren’t friendly people. They had no children that she knew about, nobody ever bothered to visit them, and the neighborhood children made sure to stay away from their property when playing. Apparently the boy that they were hosting was the son of a dead relative. The last household hadn’t been a good fit, so they were asked to care for him, not even knowing about his existence until they received the call. Something bothered her during that conversation. There was nothing but tangible irritation in the neighbor’s voice when they discussed the boy, like he was an inconvenience at best. Mrs. Kurusu had interjected and ended the conversation by offering for her son to walk and show him to the local school. If she had listened for much longer she felt as if she would have snapped at the people on the phone.

And now here she was waiting, sitting in the living room sipping a cup of lukewarm tea. When her son energetically opened the front door, and saw her he stiffened up. He could sense her concern, and the dread that had been rolling in her stomach for days now. Akira dropped his book bag on the ground and shucked his shoes off by the door, before walking over to her quietly.

“Mom, what’s wrong?” he asked, his voice soft.

“Akira, I want to talk to you about your friend.”

~ ~ ~

Akira sat in his bed later that night, after having a talk with his mom about Goro. The whole time, Akira could feel that latent anger bubble up again when his mom asked him about Goro’s guardians. He honestly didn’t say too much, because he didn’t know much about the people his friend was living with. But he told her about his friend’s appearance, how he wore clothes that didn’t fit right, how he seemed tired all the time, about how he was rail skinny and only started looking a little livelier after he had been feeding him lunch for several weeks. His mother didn’t emote during their chat, her face staying in a trained calm expression. Akira was almost thankful for that as he could start to feel his own emotions unravel a bit.

Later, he could hear her on the phone, talking in a low voice. He didn’t know who she was talking to, but she thanked them right before she hung up.

Emotions from before started to get the best of him. It felt like there was a large gaping hole in the middle of his abdomen, something akin to fear and guilt was eating at his insides. His gut was telling him that something bad was going to happen, or at least it felt like it. The nervousness and fear kept him up as he watched the sky outside of his window change from an inky navy to a sleepy orange as the sun rose. Dried tears, he wasn’t aware he shed, made his eyes feel gritty.

His mom made him go straight to school that day, and when he looked for Goro at lunch he found out he was absent. The bad feeling grew more throughout the day. He wasn’t able to pay attention to anything in class, scribbles making up most of his notes. On his way home he vigilantly looked out for his friend on the street, even though he knew he wouldn’t be there.

It wasn’t until the next day that he saw Goro again, he had shown up late to school, missing their walk in the morning. He looked more tired than usual, the way his shoulders hung limply and purply bags underneath his eyes. He brightened up a little when Akira joined him at lunch (Akira had packed him a bento as usual), but he seemed sad. His pupils were unfocused, and he barely touched his food. When Akira touched his shoulder, Goro recoiled and winced as if he had been burned. After lunch and the rest of classes, when the two were getting ready to go home, the brunette stopped before they left through the gates and grabbed Akira by the wrist.

“I-I don’t want to go back _there_ today.” His eyes didn’t meet Akira’s, and he was physically trembling.

Akira answered in the only way he knew how.

“Okay.”

So the two of them went to the mall instead, buying some canned drinks out of the vending machine, and sitting down in the middle of the food court. It was just quiet between them for a while, Akira just observing for a bit until Goro spoke up.

“Akira, I don’t know how much longer I’ll probably be here- in Inaba.” His hands clenched around the half-empty soda can.

A nervous hand went up to twist black curls between its fingers, silver eyes focused on the boy in front of him.

“I didn’t tell you before, but I think you knew anyway, I’m a foster child.” Red eyes shut closed. 

“My current guardians are people who claim to be my Great Aunt and Uncle, but they don’t really care about me. They took me in because they got some money for it, but they see me as a burden and an annoyance. My mom…” he trailed off, hurt in his voice, “-she died a while ago, and I’ve been passed around by my relatives for years now.” A quiet sigh, escaped him.

“But, after I leave this household, I don’t have any more family I can go to. I’ll be sent somewhere else, and I have no control over that.” A tinge of fear laced Goro’s words.

The loneliness that Akira felt from his friend’s confession hurt him. He didn’t want Goro to leave, and he didn’t want him to suffer anymore under the neglect of his guardians.

“Are you sure that you’ll be leaving?” he asked, eyes looking for confirmation.

“I’m pretty sure, yes. Your mother and my homeroom teacher have already contacted my guardians about how they’re treating me. Plus um…” he paused for a second, looking uncomfortable, “- I ran away yesterday morning, and didn’t come back until late in the night.”

“Really? I thought your guardians kept you home yesterday.” Akira’s eyes widened a bit.

“They were going to, your mom had contacted the school and their house. Whatever they said made my Uncle mad and he started yelling and-” he stopped suddenly again, “-I just had to get out.” His eyes darted to the side, his hand clenching his shoulder in a white-knuckled grip.

“Goro.” Akira’s voice wavered. He wasn’t even sure what he was trying to say, he just wanted his friend to know that he cared. So he reached his hand over, palm up and looked at his friend. Shoulders shaking, chestnut hair splayed messily across his forehead, Goro connected their hands together in a tight clasp and let loose a wobbly sob. Crimson eyes connected with quicksilver, and then clenched tight, fighting against tears.

_“I don’t want to leave.”_ Goro hissed under his breath. 

_“I don’t want to keep doing this over and over again.”_

_“I don’t want to never see you again.”_

Akira squeezed Goro’s hand tighter. “Yeah me too.” he whispered, his eyes watery.

~ ~ ~

It’s been two months since school started, and two months since Kurusu Akira met Akechi Goro, and about a week since Goro had said goodbye for the last time. Akira had given Goro his mail address in hopes that the two could still be pen pals wherever he ended up living, but after another month of waiting ( _hoping)_ for a letter, he found himself giving up on that endeavor. His mom had been sympathetic towards him when she heard that Goro was leaving, telling him it was for the best. It didn’t feel the best though, and the loneliness that followed Akira around for the rest of the school year was like a ghost. Always there, quietly engulfing him, sparking jealousy in his gut when he saw friend groups get together at lunch. 

He found himself in the position he had been in before, belonging nowhere, and knowing nobody. It hurt now though, where before he had viewed it with indifference.

It hurt because he knew what it was like to have someone who thought you belonged next to them. Who wanted you around. Because Goro thought he didn’t belong anywhere too. But they both did belong, and it was with each other, Akira knew that much.

He became good at suppressing his feelings about it though, he had to be. If he let it show on his face how much he felt empty, others would get concerned. So he learned to mirror and mimic them, feeding the people answers and responses that they liked to hear.

Akira was nobody, but everybody at the same time. And for now, he preferred it that way.

He continued this all throughout middle school, which eventually trickled into high school. Life changed a bit through that time. His mom and dad (who worked overseas) divorced. His father was unfaithful, his mom didn’t want to put up with it, and ended their marriage. This led to his mother getting remarried considerably fast, as about a year later she ended up engaged to some local salesman in town. His stepfather wasn’t really a big fan of Akira, but neither was Akira of him, so an underlying tension lived in the house constantly.

That tension grew and grew until one fateful day, while he was in the middle of his second year in high school, Akira got arrested. Apparently defending people from assault when the assaulter was a rich politician was considered steady grounds for arrest. During his trial and the short time he spent in juvie, his school had expelled him, people from school cut ties with him, and his mom had let his stepfather spew poison in her ears. When he arrived back at his house in the spring, he was given a week to pack before he was being shipped off to Tokyo to restart his second year of school.

As he sat on the train in early April, watching the scenery fly by, that emptiness deep inside him made itself known again.

  
  



	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoop! Here's the second chapter!  
> Just want to thank everyone who left comments last chapter, you're all super sweet!  
> I've definitely been more productive with my writing the last few days, so here's an update before the end of the week!

Train doors opened and out poured dozens of people. Akira clung tightly to his bag as he was practically pushed and funneled out of the train car, people sandwiching him on all sides. He wasn’t sure if he could get used to doing this everyday, if the Tokyo subway was always this busy. Managing to free himself from the crowd, he walked out into the Shibuya station, readjusting the pair of fake glasses on the bridge of his nose.

It was jarring feeling so alone with thousands of people around him, he didn’t like it one bit. But maybe that was the whiplash he was getting from living in the country his whole life. He’d probably adjust soon enough.

He had to. 

Going back to his home in Inaba wasn’t an option right now, especially with how his last full conversa- _no he wouldn’t kid himself- argument. It had been an argument_ _with his mother and stepfather._

Silver eyes winced, as echoes of it bounced around in the boy’s memories. The accusing tones and anger that had leaked from his stepfather’s voice and stance, finger pointing and jabbing him in the chest, had been nothing in comparison to the silent compliance of his mother.

Betrayal _stung_.

It made something underneath his skin boil, not quite rage, it felt sad in comparison to anger. It felt twisted, and gnarled, like it wanted to be acknowledged and heard. Equally vicious and vulnerable.

And then he saw it.

While he was walking he had glanced down at his phone, out of habit to check the GPS and time. He saw a small red and black symbol on his screen, an eye to be exact. It pulsed, and then the entire world did too. The people around him became silent, frozen in place. He looked around, startlingly comfortable, as if it felt familiar whatever was happening right now. 

His eyes honed in on the blue flames that swarmed together in a cyclone several meters away from him. Normally he would have ran if he had seen something like this, but he knew he was fine.

There was no danger. 

When he saw a devious smile erupt from the flames, a feeling so familiar yet foreign burned in his chest, swelling throughout his veins.

That emptiness that had consumed him for so long was gone, replaced by whatever rush of emotion this was.

And then just as suddenly as it was there, it was gone.

The blue flames vanished, the people around him continuing on their ways, obvious to whatever had just happened.

Akira let loose a shuddering breath from deep inside his lungs, his heart pounding loudly against his sternum. Immediately he deleted the app on his phone, and instead started following the set of instructions on his travel app. Whatever that was could only be no good, there really wasn’t debating it. Seeing demons in the middle of the city has never been a good sign for _anything or anyone_. But he had places to be, and was expected to meet his new caretaker relatively soon, so he couldn’t afford to waste time speculating about what he had seen.

_Another time maybe._

~ ~ ~

The rest of the night went as smoothly as he predicted. He showed up at his new guardian’s store, got a lecture and a warning, was shown the attic ( _aka his room- which was buried under miscellaneous trash)_ , he cleaned for a few hours so that the space was at least livable (the amount of dust bunnies he had found was incredible), and then he was locked up for the night in the little cafe.

“Alone again.” he muttered to himself. He’s laid out across his bed on his back, looking up at the ceiling, his eyes unfocusing as his mind drifted.

Automatically, his hand grabbed his phone and brought it up to his face, to check the time. A surprised exhale left his nose as he saw the eye icon he had deleted earlier that day looking back at him, tauntingly so. Cool, so he definitely had some sort of malware on his phone- _awesome._ Without hesitation he deleted the app again- _good riddance-_ and let his phone drop onto his bed.

Flashes of blue fire and mischievous smiles danced in his head, and he quickly squashed them down.

_He was_ _fine._

He just was frazzled from traveling, nothing more, nothing less. 

~ ~ ~

_Maybe he wasn’t fine._

The next morning he had jolted awake from a dream that didn’t really feel like a dream. He had been in a jail cell, there were chains hanging from the walls (and one clasped around his ankle), and the amount of blue in the _office_ outside of his bleak cage had almost been overwhelming. A strange long-nosed man and a pair of identical looking twelve year olds had warned him of ruin, telling him that they would aid him in his “rehabilitation”. Before he really had a chance to make a peep to any of them, he was dismissed and woke up at some ungodly hour in the morning.

_Stress-_ it was totally a stress induced dream, and the demon he saw yesterday in Shibuya, that was also stress induced.

When his caretaker had marched upstairs into his room, saying that they were going to go meet the school staff ( _hurray~),_ the rest of the day just blurred from that point on. There was bad traffic on the way there and back, the principal hadn’t really been pleasant, but his homeroom teacher he felt neutral about right now. Sakura-san was still icy towards him (the train accident and bad traffic did not help with that). Nothing of too much significance happened after that, he was given a journal to write in, and then he flipped the closed sign on the store. Thankfully no weird dreams haunted him that night, but the weird app had been back. He grumbled as he deleted it again, swearing he would reset his phone if it showed up again.

Shuffling down the stairs the next day, he was greeted by a warm plate of food and coffee, as well as Sakura-san who was in a better mood today than yesterday it seemed. Akira thanked him for the meal (he refrained from asking about the recipe, even though he _really wanted to know what was in the curry),_ and then headed off to the train. He thankfully did not get lost while transferring trains, and felt quite pleased with himself about that. Or he did until it started raining and he had to retreat under an awning.

Akira wasn’t a fan of getting wet unless he meant for it to happen. Jumping in a pool- _fine_ . Accidentally stepping into a puddle- _gross._ The droplets that clung to his glasses only added to his frustration. So here he was, standing under a small canopy in front of a store, hair already sprinkled with raindrops, waiting for a chance to dash the rest of the way to school without getting drenched. In an effort to waste time he turned on his phone and nearly cursed when he saw a red and black eye staring back at him blankly. 

_This damn app was testing his patience._

He almost didn’t notice the person next to him during his silent fuming, until she undid her hood and two long blonde ponytails unfurled from inside her jacket. Instantly Akira’s eyes went wide, and he felt his mouth go dry. She was probably the prettiest girl that he’s ever seen in person, and the smile she gave him made his face feel warm. Pretty much forgetting about his phone, he embarrassingly averted his eyes and attentively looked at the sky, begging for the rain to let up. When a car pulled up, with a man inside offering a ride to the girl, and then to him after he caught sight of his uniform, he quickly denied the offer. He didn’t really have a reason other than _bad vibes._ His unease only grew when he saw the girl uncomfortably buckle herself into the passenger seat of the car; she seemed upset when the car’s window rolled up. 

Now he felt like an asshole.

After the car drove off, there was approximately one second of silence before he could hear the sound of sneakers slapping against the wet sidewalk rush up beside him. A little dazed he looked to the kid in front of him, bleached hair, graphic t-shirt, and a scowl. He was grumbling about something, which Akira could only pick up bits of.

“Pervy teacher?” he parroted back, confused. The boy in front of him looked at him incredulously, like he just said something completely stupid.

Something about castles and kings, the school he was going to, and a teacher named Kamoshida- and then Akira felt his brain pulse. The sudden dizziness apparently didn’t just hit him, as the rowdy boy in front of him clutched his head nearly at the same exact time Akira felt his consciousness detach and reattach itself to his body. It apparently wasn’t enough to deter the blonde kid (who he didn’t even know the name of yet), as he offered to show him a short cut to the school.

~ ~ ~

Akira wasn’t sure how he felt about this whole situation he had unintentionally placed himself in. He hasn’t really processed any of it, and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to, because at this point trying to rationalize anything that happened just seemed meaningless.

He and Ryuji (who he has a pact with now) had wandered into a castle, were thrown into a jail cell, and nearly got killed by a barely dressed version of Kamoshida (he nearly gagged when he saw the pink speedo). Akira had finally met the smiling demon he saw in the Station Square (which he will admit was exciting) which was his persona- _Arséne,_ and then kicked some ass (which was even more exciting- _and fun)_ . They met a monster cat, when they got lost in their attempt to escape. With the help of Morgana (monster cat) they managed to get away, and that was great. Akira was _glad_ they got away, while not completely unharmed, they were alive which is what mattered. What wasn’t great was going back to the real world and realizing that they had missed half of the school day, and then being immediately confronted by the police about ditching class.

The lie that he told his teacher about how he “got lost” was probably the dumbest and most transparent fib he had ever uttered in his life. Seeing the disappointed motherly look on Ms. Kawakami’s face too, had made him feel even scummier than before, especially when she had covered for him when he introduced himself to the class. Which then was piled on with the pretty blonde girl that he had seen this morning, calling him a liar under her breath, in addition to the nasty rumors and whispers that he kept hearing about himself throughout the rest of the day. 

_He was feeling great about this place-_

_What a friendly atmosphere!_

After sneaking up to the roof and talking to Ryuji about the castle, and how it was definitely real and not a dream- they determined that it was up to them to investigate it. Akira also wasn’t passing up the chance to use his Persona again if he could help it.

When he got home that day, he got another stern warning from Sakura, who was thoroughly upset about being contacted by the school about him missing class. He could do nothing but promise to do better and keep his head down as he slunk off to his room to sleep the day’s problems away.

Sleep didn’t even save him from the overwhelming volume of bullshit he was experiencing though. He woke up, back again in the cell with the twin wardens and the funny looking man staring at him from the outside. Igor ( _aka deep voiced, bug eyed, smiley weirdo),_ told him he had awoken his powers and how he was special, and about how he could now start his rehabilitation now that he had his Persona.

“Personas are, in other words, a ‘mask’- an armor of the heart when confronting worldly matters,” Igor grinned at him from behind his clasped hands.

The way those words rang hollow in his chest didn’t sit right with Akira- the implications felt weird.

_A mask?_

With the ominous farewell of “I have high expectations”, from the goblin man and his twin terrors, Akira woke up feeling a bit lackluster.

~ ~ ~

The next morning went smoother. He got on and off the trains, tried to help a red-headed girl who went to his school (and really did _nothing_ \- but that didn’t stop her from thanking him anyway), and then hurried off to class in the rain ( _with the umbrella that he made sure to pack this time)_. 

That didn’t stop Akira from feeling a bit unnerved this morning. He felt like he was being watched when he was in Shibuya station, half expecting something to jump at him from around any corner he walked past. It was probably just him being paranoid because of everything that happened yesterday, but the hair on the back of his neck prickled until he hopped on his train. 

Concerning him most at the moment, was the fiery feeling he could sense in the back of his brain. It was a familiar feeling, one that he remembered having quite clearly when he was younger. He hadn’t really felt it for a while, not since middle school, when the rage had nearly raised its ugly head when he saw his friend being neglected. Yesterday though, when he saw Ryuji beaten down, crying out, the dam in his brain had broken. The rush of protective anger and adrenaline had overcome his senses, and he felt the most free that he had in a long time. And thus, Arséne entered the picture.

Akira was aware that he wasn’t a very honest person (he wasn’t a _bad person_ though), and being called out for it in his dreams had bothered him. He’d known this information for nearly five years, saying and doing whatever possible so other people would be happy with him- he didn’t really understand why the Velvet Room attendants felt the need to point it out more so to him. None of that really did anything for him, interacting with others while being detached, not when he needed someone to help him in a sudden twist of events. Only having superficial relationships with others, hadn’t served him well. But he can’t really say that he expected anything different to be frank, none of his previous connections being genuine, and had left him vulnerable. When he was metaphorically beaten down, reaching out a hand for help, nobody bothered to save him. So when Ryuji found him and asked him to look for the castle with him after school, it felt different than before with all of his previous “friends”. Ryuji _was_ genuine, and that was pretty cool.

The “punk” he had been warned about, was fun to talk to. While they searched around the school and train station looking for the hellscape they escaped from before, it was nice to just shoot the shit with someone his age. Even if it was sporadic, switching from talking about Kamoshida and making up insults about him, to favorite junk food, where Akira was from, and more. It eased Akira’s nerves if only for a bit, as he fell into a comfortable gait alongside Ryuji.

“Dude, I swear it’s gotta be around here somewhere. We couldn’t have walked past it-” the blonde huffed in annoyance.

“Check on your phone then, maybe it’ll show up.” Akira suggested, twisting his hair between his fingers.

“Wait- gimme your phone! You had some weird navigation on it right? I remember hearing it yesterday-”

Suddenly Ryuji had snatched his phone from his grasp, quickly scrolled through his apps, and pressed _the cursed eye icon_. He was going to say something until he looked up-

_Oh hey, there’s the castle._

~ ~ ~

If you had told Akira that within a few days time that he would had assembled a team of Phantom Thieves that would go dungeon diving into the corrupted heart of his perverted gym teacher in an attempt to make him confess his sins _\- which may result in accidentally killing him-_ he would have nodded at you while trying to put as much distance between the two of you as possible. If you told him that he would not only have supernatural powers on top of that, but super special supernatural powers- _he would have ran away, yelling that he wasn’t interested in whatever you were selling. Sounded like a scam to him!_

But here he was.

Ann, Ryuji, and Morgana (or known in the Metaverse as Panther, Skull, and Mona) were all splayed out around the last safe room, taking a breather. The throne room was right outside of the door, and everyone, while huffing and puffing a bit from the last leg of the palace, was jazzed to break into the treasure room. Akira- _aka Joker-_ sat down next to his teammates, sipping on a can of soda.

“Can’t wait to take that treasure and make Kamoshida eat his words.” Skull said, throwing his legs up on the table and leaning back far in his chair.

“Me too, he’ll pay for what he did to Shiho,” something akin to a growl left Panther, anger evident in her posture. She picked at and ate some trail mix that Akira had brought, purposely plucking the M&Ms from the rest of the mix, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

“Right.” Akira nodded at both of them reassuringly.

When he felt a little paw tug expectantly on his coat, he looked down to see two large blue cat eyes staring at him. Mona gave him a little kitty smile, and Akira immediately handed him a bag of popcorn. A small cheerful meow left the cat as he retreated with his bag of goods. Snacks apparently were good energy boosters in the Metaverse, so Akira had packed a formidable supply with what money he had scavenged from the shadows in the Palace. The rest of his team supported this decision, obviously, if the wrappers that were on the table were anything to go by.

Securing the route to the treasure after their break had been relatively easy in comparison to everything else they had to do so far. Almost laughably so, but Akira wasn’t about to jinx his already faulty luck and question it. Instead the group left the Palace, excited about the big heist they had to pull off in the upcoming days. To be honest the whole operation everyone had been very quick to jump on, finishing the exploration of Kamoshida’s Palace as soon as possible. There was _a lot_ on the line here- him, Ryuji, and Mishima could all be expelled, Kamoshida’s physical and sexual violence would continue towards students, and Shiho wouldn’t get the justice she deserved, if they failed in stealing his treasure.

Now here they were, with over a week left until the deadline of the board meeting. Preparing for what Akira was assuming to be the final encounter with Kamosida’s shadow and the Palace’s treasure, wasn’t hard. He found himself to be getting antsy though, and buying extra bandages and medicine from the convenience store and Takemi’s clinic.

_Better safe than sorry._

The thought of failing after coming so far made him feel sour, almost petty actually, because he wouldn’t let it happen. Not because he particularly was concerned about himself anymore, but his friends (something in his brain hummed happily at that word) mattered a lot to him. In the very short amount of time that they all knew each other Akira had grown quite fond of the blondes he hung out with at school, and the not-cat that now lived with him. If anything happened to any of them, he might actually flip out for once in his life. Especially with the latent surge of anger and other emotions (that he associates with Arséne and the other Personas he had gathered) always buzzing in the back of his head now.

His impulsivity for instance has been getting a bit worse than it initially was before. He only realized that when he had willingly agreed to be a human test subject for the shady back alley doctor without thinking about it. To say that he surprised himself and Takemi with how fast he said “yes” to her proposition, was a bit of an understatement. Akira just didn’t really react until later, when he was at home alone, with no one but Morgana around to judge him.

With the extra time before the deadline, it was decided that everyone would have one day to rest up before they sent the calling card. Akira had decided to use the day to pick up some odds and ends that he needed in his personal life. He had left Morgana at home, letting him rest up in Leblanc, while he was out doing “errands”.

Because he hadn’t had a chance to really go out and learn the layout of the city, he stuck to Central Street. He wanted to pick up some new books that he could read to pass the time in the morning when he was on the train to school, so he was perusing the selection in the small book store. Nothing really peaked his interest, until he came across a cookbook. He eagerly grabbed it and flipped through the first few pages, excitedly looking at the pictures and recipes.

“Oh, are you a fan of cooking?”

Silver eyes owlishly blinked, and then looked toward his side where the sweet voice had come from. He was met with big round chocolate eyes, and a fluffy head of auburn hair. Akira was pretty sure that the girl that he was looking at was probably the closest embodiment of “soft” that he had ever seen.

“I am.” he said, taking his attention away from the book.

“That’s fantastic! What kind of dishes do you make?” 

“I dabble in a bit of everything, I was looking into getting more recipes on Western cuisine. I’m interested in finding stuff that pairs well with coffee too.”

“Oh really?”

“Yeah, I’m living in a cafe right now, and the store owner makes the best cup of coffee.”

“You don’t mind me asking where, right? Frequenting cafes is something I do quite often, I love the atmosphere they have. They make you feel comfortable, like you’re relaxing and enjoying coffee in your home! I actually was interested in learning more about coffee too, I’m currently growing some myself- ”

~ ~ ~

Akira ended up bringing the girl to Leblanc after they talked more, because he _needed_ her to try Sojiro’s coffee after telling her about it. She had excitedly chatted with him and Sojiro into the evening, enjoying the coffee that Sojiro had made for her ( _“free of charge” he insisted)._ He couldn’t really say that he expected someone to start talking to him about one of his few interests, but now that he had he can say that it left him feeling warm inside as well as energetic.

She had told him her name was Okumura Haru, and that she went to Shujin too (which sparked a whole “Oh me too!” tangent in their talk). Honestly, talking to Haru felt like talking to an old friend that he hadn’t seen in years. Overall it was refreshing, he hadn’t had a conversation under normal circumstances in too long. Conversing without the worries of his probation, rumors, the Metaverse, or other stress inducing topics, nearly made him cry out in joy (but he held it back because he still had some pride). The fuzzies that were floating around inside his head satisfied something in his soul, feeling a strong connection and bond to the girl.

Morgana had also thoroughly enjoyed Haru’s visit, plopping down in her lap soon after she arrived. She had scratched his ears and petted him throughout the long talk she had with Akira. But all good things come to an end, and when her phone buzzed and she saw the time she quickly stood up apologizing for having to leave suddenly.

“Good night, Akira-kun, Sakura-san,” Haru gave a short bow to the two of them. “Good bye, Mona-chan,” she cooed to the cat as she gave him one final goodbye pat, before leaving through the door of Leblanc.

“What a nice young lady.” Sojiro gave him a smug look.

Oh no. He did not like that look at all.

While not on perfect terms with each other yet, Akira could sense that Sojiro was becoming increasingly friendlier towards him everyday. Especially since he had told him about his friends and brought Morgana home ( _and he’s pretty sure Sojiro likes the cat better than he did Akira)_. And friendly in Sojiro’s book meant joking was permitted.

“It’s not like that. I met her today by chance in the book store.” He darted his eyes away, hoping that breaking eye contact would make the barista drop the teasing. It did not.

“Uh huh. I was a teenager once too, you know.”

Akira tried his best to keep from groaning, scooping Morgana up from the stool he was sitting on into his arms. 

“I’m going to go study.” he called behind him as he disappeared upstairs, leaving behind the sound of low chuckles in the kitchen.

“Hey, be gentle with me!” the complaining fur ball in his arms hissed. 

Akira may had accidentally jostled him around a bit when walking as fast as humanly possible up the steps. He tried to make amends later by giving the fussy feline some cat treats he had purchased earlier today. They were deemed as “acceptable” according to Morgana’s very refined palette.

~ ~ ~

There were a lot of things that Akira was thinking about now, as he sat downstairs in Leblanc, in the evening, on May 2nd. 

The fight with Kamoshida’s shadow hadn’t really left his mind yet, regardless of it happening nearly a week ago at this point. They had stolen the treasure successfully, but there were a few times were he felt his heart nearly leap out of his chest during the heist. Fighting the nasty lust demon version of Kamosida had been disturbing in itself, but manageable. He felt his skin crawl when he saw the cognitive versions of Suzui and Mishima willingly do as Kamoshida had told them. And even though he knew they weren’t the real ones, he still felt the tiniest bit of guilt when he and the other thieves blasted them away with magic.

What had bothered him the most from the entire incident was what happened after they beat Kamoshida’s shadow into submission. He saw Ann from the corner of his eye charge up on the pervert, blasting fire to corner him on the balcony- and for a second he was certain that she was going to kill him. Akira wasn’t disturbed by that (Ann could do whatever she wanted to in that situation), but more so that _he wanted her to do it-_ and that’s why he stopped moving. He noticed that Ryuji had also frozen next to him, unsure of how to react; torn between stopping Ann from making a mistake or letting her enact revenge. She didn’t do it, but the burning hate in her eyes even after leaving the Palace told Akira that she had come very close to giving into instinct.

Kamoshida, today during assembly, had fallen to his knees on stage and had confessed all the wrongdoings he had ever done. He apologized for his egregious deeds, knowing that his apologies could never truly atone for what he did- and then said he was going to kill himself, which made Akira do a double take. If Ann hadn’t yelled at the man, telling him that he needed to live and pay for his actions, he would probably be dead by now. Which again, didn’t really provoke any sort of strong emotion in Akira, and was starting to concern him how okay he seemed with the idea.

_Was that wrong? He wasn’t sure really._

_Oh_!

He, Ryuji, and Mishima also weren’t being expelled anymore- _so yay for that~_

It just felt so trivial to him, in comparison to what had happened to some of the other students, that he really couldn’t bring himself to be too happy about it. He was glad that his pal, and the formerly abused kid in his class, were saved from the shame and humiliation he had felt when he had been expelled. Definitely not a great experience by any measure, especially when he had struggled to find a school that would take him in afterward. He was also pleased that Ann and Suzui had been given an apology not just from Kamoshida, but also the people who had spread rumors about them. Seeing his friends have a sense of closure on this whole thing, soothed Akira’s soul.

However, another thing that had resulted out of what happened today, was realizing that they hadn’t caused a mental shutdown in Kamoshida, meaning that they _cracked the code- kind of._ Since their ex-gym teacher did not die, there was some promising news with that. They were able to bring justice to the many voices that had gone unheard and were suffering, and were able to get away with it without it linking back to them, which was a pretty sweet deal. But, it also meant that they could do it again- and Akira _really wanted to do it again_.

For justice, of course.

_And maybe he was getting used to using his Persona and found using magic to be very fun._

_But- it didn’t matter if it was done for a good reason though!_

“You okay? You haven’t blinked for a while.” 

Akira suddenly felt how dry his eyes were and blinked them in rapid succession. Rubbing the corner of his eyes trying to get any moisture back in them, he heard Sojiro move from behind the bar counter.

“I’m fine.” Akira mumbled, waving off the curious quirk of Sojiro’s eyebrow.

“If you say so. Do you mind helping me out with the dishes?” 

Akira nodded, and joined him in the kitchen. Letting the mindless menial labor ease his scattered brain.

~ ~ ~

It was the next week now right before exams, and Akira could day that he was starting to feel the pressure set in. He wasn’t expecting to get top of his class of course on his exams, but with the consistent distraction of the now “official” Phantom Thieves, and the snooping that the Student Council President has been doing on him and his friends, was definitely occupying his mind a lot more than studying had been.

“Oh Akira-kun!”

He glanced over his shoulder and saw a pink cardigan and instantly slowed his pace, so the owner could catch up to him. She joined him on the short remainder of the walk that was left to Shujin.

“Mornin’ Haru-chan.” he greeted softly, a smile reaching his eyes.

“Good morning!” she giggled. “I’m glad I caught you before class, I wanted to ask if you were free today after school. I need to move some bags of soil up to the roof today, and was wondering if you could assist me.” Her brown eyes brightened at the mention of her garden.

“Of course, Haru.” Akira nodded at her.

“Thank you!” Another sweet giggle left her, before the two separated for their respective classrooms.

After settling in his desk, and letting Morgana cram himself comfortably into his cubby space, he stretched out his arms cracking his shoulders.

“I like her. She’s nice.” a small meow commented from his desk. Akira chuckled at that and continued to chase the sleep out of his bones, this time by stretching out his back, and popping his vertebrae quite loudly. He got a disturbed glare from the student who sat adjacent from him, before they went back to ignoring his existence.

Ann hopped down into her seat a second afterward, yawning audibly.

“Hey guys,” her voice laced with sleep still, “What were you talking about Morgana, I could hear you from the doorway.”

“He was talking about how he likes Haru.” Akira said in a teasing tone of voice, while booping the cat on the nose. Morgana retaliated by batting at his finger playfully.

“You’re going to have to introduce me to her soon, I’d love to meet her, she sounds lovely.” The blonde drowsily leaned her arms on Akira’s desk.

“I will, and she is. You’d probably get along with her, in fact I think anybody would get along with her, she’s a sweet person.” he mumbled. Ann just smiled at him, taking his hand and patting him on the back of it.

“I’m glad you’re making friends, Akira.”

He nearly snorted at that and then took her hand in his remaining free hand, and patted the back of her hand, copying her actions.

“Thanks, mom.”

“Oh, shut up! Let me be proud of you- making friends at this hell school isn’t easy!” she whisper yelled at him, failing to keep a straight face when he started laughing.

~ ~ ~

The tingles were back, and he didn’t know why. At first he had attributed it to sleep deprivation, which Morgana had been upset with him about since exams started. He thought that his furry roommate was going to smother him last night while he was memorizing math equations, because he refused to go to bed and ended up staying up until 2 am. But, it wasn’t sleep related. Even after exams, he could feel the nerves prickle on the back of his neck. Someone- maybe something- was watching him.

If he had to make a bet, he would not be a single bit surprised if he turned around and made eye contact with Niijima-san. However he might scream if that ended up being the case- _because damn couldn’t a guy catch a break_ . The Student Council President made it very clear that she was out to catch him doing something stupid, and Akira honestly didn’t know how much longer he could hold out before he impulsively said something snarky to her. He just was a _little mad_ that he was being closely monitored at school. Even when he wasn’t hanging out with Ann or Ryuji, he would sometimes catch Niijima out of the corner of his eye, observing him.

But, the StuCo Prez usually made herself known to him and his friends, trying to provoke them with harsh words and baited questions. She wanted him to know that she was watching them. It was some sort of weird, and effective, intimidation tactic.

This, whatever it was, had a different energy from Niijima. It would only appear in the train station, and then it would disappear when he walked on his connecting ride.

One day, the tingling on his neck and shoulders got so bad that he started nervously playing with his hair unconsciously, only noticing when his fingers got tangled in some of the frizz. He turned around searching for the source in the crowd, looking desperately for signs. A surge of movement, something that looked like it would have moved towards him, caught his eye, but was ultimately lost in the sudden influx of people that got off the train that had just arrived at the station. Feeling really unnerved now, his breath catching itself, he hopped on the train and tried to forget about the maybe-almost encounter with whatever was stalking him.

He could only breathe once the tingles were gone, goosebumps scattered all over the skin of the back of his arms. His stomach was rolling in on itself, his gut instinct telling him he just missed something big. When he shut his eyes, he could swear that he could see a red, rusty glare, peering at him from that crowd. That crimson gaze was achingly familiar, and strikingly sharp. Akira could feel his chest clench, hurt blooming in his heart as his mind drifted back to simpler times. His hands squeezing tightly, balled up into fists, as he thought of an old friend.

That was pretty much impossible though, _right_?

What chance would there be of running into him now, five years after the fact, in the middle of a busy Tokyo train station?

He didn’t know, because he hadn’t seen the face the eyes belonged to, if they belonged to anyone. His mind could just be playing cruel tricks on him as he stewed in his paranoia.

~ ~ ~

There, at the station, a pair of red eyes frustratingly watched a train leave the station, trailing after the vessel longingly. 

“Next time.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes so- if you could not tell already I'm introducing characters in different ways! As this is an AU, I think that mixing it up is necessary. Some of the plots/palaces/and character intros will be changed in a way that I think just flows better/adds more to this particular story. 
> 
> Thank you guys so much for reading! I will be updating again soon! <3


	3. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the delay on this, I had started to write this chapter about five different times- and ended up scrapping literal thousands of words because I didn't like the flow of them. I'm much more satisfied with the final result though! Please enjoy!

Today had been _exhausting_.

Confronting someone who was stalking Ann this morning, then planning on going to an art exhibit tomorrow while snooping for Phantom Thieves business, finishing exams at school, and swiftly (and unsuccessfully) avoiding the glare of Niijima, and then talking to the school’s new counselor (mainly because he was bribed with snacks) had drained Akira’s energy quite a bit. He was glad that he was enjoying coffee with Haru right now (although it was _ridiculously expensive_ and she wouldn’t let him pay for his; which had hurt his pride a little), rather than doing anything else.

“Akira-kun, are you okay? You look tired.”

Silver eyes blinked back into reality once they realized that he had been staring into his cup of coffee for a longer amount of time than a normal person should or would. He laughed, a little embarrassed, “Ah yeah, sorry just spaced out for a second.” He resisted the urge to play with his hair. “I stayed up late studying.”

Haru gave him a pleasant smile and sipped at her own cup. When she placed it down Akira couldn’t help notice the unusually tight grip she had on the ceramic mug, neatly manicured fingers tracing the lip of her glass in a tense manner. “Well, make sure to take care of yourself. You don’t want to get sick.” 

“How about you Haru, how have you been?” One of his brows raised in concern. The tense body language was triggering something in him, making his nerves buzz.

When her eyes met his own, he noticed that the typical cheerfulness that he associated with his friend had simmered down into something quiet- almost sad. The trained closed lipped smile on Haru’s face contradicted it, and Akira felt something cold wash through him, dripping from the back of his skull down his back.

“I’m alright,” The smile wavered a bit, “My father’s company has been going through some troubling times as of late, so I’ve been trying to help out in ways that I can. It’s been a bit overwhelming,” she trailed off. Her eyes drifted to the contents of her cup, staring at the little ripples on the surface of the liquid.

“Do you want to talk about it?” He asked, not liking the crestfallen aura that surrounded her. Something picked at his brain as he observed the defeated behavior of the girl across from him.

“I’m not really sure how to put my thoughts and feelings into words at the moment if I’m being honest.” There was a pause, palpable hesitation hanging in the air. The awkwardness made itself known, with how uncomfortable the silence was, until Haru bashfully looked away. “Sorry I’m not really used to speaking to other people my age. Growing up I was subjected to socializing with people that my father wanted me to associate with, most of them were older. I think he really just wanted to show me off, and boast about me, he didn’t really care that I was there or if I talked.” A lonely look flitted across her facial features, but then gradually grew into something warmer, softer. “You’re my first real friend Akira that I chose to make on my own, and I’m thankful for that- for you.”

A tender emotion wrapped itself around him, settling comfortable in his shoulders and neck. 

_Now he felt a bit embarrassed-_

He was thankful for his glasses hiding some of his expression because he could feel his cheeks grow warmer. So Akira gave her a smile back, accompanied by a shy chuckle, fingers twisting his wild locks as he also averted his gaze for a moment. “I'm glad we’re friends too.”

A soft giggle danced in his ears, and he looked back at Haru to see her also flushed in the face. However it seemed to be out of happiness, rather than embarrassment.

~ ~ ~

When he walked into the station that evening, after saying goodbye to Haru (still feeling very warm and fuzzy inside after their conversation at the coffee shop) the vibe felt off. The tingles that he had grown used to were back, but felt more intense- _no aggressive would be a better way to explain it._ It felt concerningly closer than usual today, and Akira didn’t even know how he could tell- other than the hair on the nape of his neck seemed to prickle and sting. Running out of the station and coming back later sounded better and better by the minute if he was being frank.

Intuition, however, told him that _that_ was a bad idea.

_Who was to say that the tingles wouldn’t follow him this time_ \- he’d never been completely alone like this before when they popped up. Even when he wasn’t with his school friends, he usually had the company of Morgana in his bag (his roommate was currently napping at home on a special pillow that Sojiro had given him and forewent going out with him). 

The station was also pretty empty right now, at least at the platform he was at.

Feeling vulnerable like this was definitely a new sensation.

_He couldn’t say that he liked it very much-_

If he had to compare it to something, he would say that he felt very much like the crickets that Morgana would catch in LeBlanc, being stalked before inevitably being pounced on and smothered. He hoped whatever or whoever was following him wouldn’t smother him, it wouldn’t be an ideal way to end his otherwise very heartfelt evening.

However, that fear grew as he heard pronounced clicks of shoes hit the ground nearby. 

He could feel the eyes move towards him physically, and the need to flee arose inside him again. If Akira got kidnapped, mugged, or worse he was going to be pissed.

So he risked a peak over his shoulder and nearly shouted when a gloved hand clamped down on his shoulder, and rather, unintentionally jumped instead. The large glasses he wore actually almost slid off his nose, and fell askew across his face. Quickly he tried to fix them, straightening them out while turning around. His fists clenched, ready to fight if he needed to.

“ _Ah-_ sorry for scaring you.”

He could feel his brain playing catch up right now as he looked over the young man in front of him. Time has moulded his face into something more mature, but still very boyish looking. He couldn’t see the dusting of freckles that used to be on the bridge of his nose anymore, either they faded or they were hidden by makeup. But the familiar crooked closed lipped grin, those dark crimson eyes and long chestnut hair were striking to see so suddenly.

“ _Goro-_ Are you Akechi Goro?” he asked, silver eyes blinking harshly in disbelief.

“And you are Kurusu Akira-” the toothy smile he received made him feel nostalgic, “-it’s been a long time hasn’t it.”

Words, never having been Akira’s strongest suite, or first choice in showing how he felt, were thrown aside. Instead he grabbed his old friend and crushed him tightly in a hug, the turmoil he felt all those years ago fresh and burning in his chest, when he had to say goodbye. There was hesitation, a pause, before he felt Goro’s arms also wrap around him, returning the hug. He could feel the chuckle that vibrated in the brunette’s chest.

“I missed you.” Those words only conveyed the surface level of overwhelming emotion that he was feeling, but they would do for now. He could feel those arms squeeze him tighter, and it would nearly be frightening how hard they constricted his diaphragm, but he couldn’t bring himself to care about it.

“I missed you too…” The exhale of breath Goro released was shaky, and it tickled the side of Akira’s neck where his head was neatly tucked next to his. 

Honestly, Akira didn’t want to let go, but the amount of PDA that they were showing would probably bring them unwanted attention, so he released his hold on the boy. Stepping back he could feel his heartbeat in his fingertips, and heat blossom up from his chest to his ears. 

_God, this evening he’s been nothing but a blushing idiot-_

Goro, who cleared his throat, also a bit red, got his attention. His whole figure and posture seemed much more confident than when Akira had last seen him. He stood tall, his eyes were attentive, and from what he could tell from their hug he had built up a considerable amount of muscle mass. That was a relief. Images of the gangly, malnourished middle schooler still haunted his thoughts from time to time, making him wish he knew sooner and had more ways to help him back then. 

He wrangled those negative things into the back of his head, because Goro was here, healthy and breathing. How, Akira didn’t know, maybe he had found a home that took care of him and raised him right. That’s all he could have wished for Goro back when they were twelve and Akira could only watch helplessly as his best friend was forcibly taken from him. It had spurred him on to learn more about the foster care system in Japan, and he had become mortified knowing what his friend had been subjected to and what he had been at risk for. But against all odds, he was here-

“I didn’t think I would ever see you again- nevertheless in Shibuya of all places. It must be fate, if such a thing exists.” An airy laugh and huff of air trickled out of the brunette’s mouth, and the crooked grin Goro gave him made Akira’s heart hurt.

“Small world, and all that.” His hand automatically went for his hair, needing to distract itself. He couldn't stop the giddy feeling that was bubbling up inside him.

“I see you’re still a man of few words.” 

_Ah, there was the teasing that he’d missed._

“If you weren’t, I think that would have been more shocking.” A fond look passed over Goro’s face. “So why are you in Tokyo? I thought you would have been going to school in Inaba?”

Harsh reality slapped Akira in the face as he realized that the truthful answer to that question would require him admitting that he got arrested, has a criminal record, and kicked out of his home. So as he anxiously twisted his tangled hair between his pointer finger and thumb, he looked out from under his bangs and through his glasses, connecting with that analytical red stare.

Goro really hasn’t changed that much from what he can tell so far, at least from what he could tell, personality wise. He was still a fan of uncomfortable eye contact too- _good to know, good to know._

“It’s kind of complicated.” Akira saw the red eyes narrow at him, and then quickly added, “I got in the middle of something that got me in trouble. Now I’m here for the year.”

“As much as I am glad you’re here, that’s unfortunate. I won’t press you for details since we’re in public, but I’d like to hear about what my friend has been up to for the past five years- that is if you want to.” The harshness of his gaze softened considerably, his eyes round and hopeful. 

Akira felt like he’d been shot. Of course he was going to go anywhere Goro wanted him to go.

Right now, right this second.

No questions asked.

“Sure.” 

~ ~ ~

  
  


_This wasn’t fair._

_How come Goro grew up to be handsome and charming-_

“Hmm are you staring at me Akira? Am I really that interesting?” Goro was all smug smiles and devious smirks, especially when he was poking fun at Akira. It was like a game to him, and Akira couldn’t help but smile back at him when he did it.

“I’d say so.” His answer was honest, something that he wasn’t very often these days. Furthermore, this was the most comfortable he’d been in a while. Sitting in some Jazz Club in Kichijoji listening to some impressive singer, drinking a mocktail while his childhood friend and him caught up.

Akira had quickly broken under Goro’s questions prodding about why he was in Tokyo, he ended up confessing about his probation and how he tried to prevent a woman from being assaulted. He also told him about his shitty stepfather, and how his relationship with his mother had become strained after her second marriage. It felt good though, to tell this to someone who had a glimpse into his world before, who understood. Goro had a taste of the slow, boring life of the countryside, way back when. He understood that Akira had never really felt like he belonged there, and had never truly bonded with anyone in his hometown. Surprisingly, he didn’t tease Akira for not making any more friends after he left Inaba. The silence after he admitted that felt like it had affirmed something for Akira. As horrible and selfish as it was, he was glad that Goro had felt similarly to him when he left his dusty little hometown. That their friendship had been important to him, regardless of how brief it had been.

Low laughter rumbled from across the table, he caught the look that Goro shot him.

“I think you might be the only person who genuinely means that when you say it.” The brunette leaned his head onto his open palm, sipping from his very fruity looking drink ( _Akira might have to ask for one of those next time- he had opted for something more citrusy this time, but it was like sour Sprite if he was being honest)._

“Well, what about you Goro? I gave you my life story, now it’s your turn.” he jested. “Tell me about how you became Mr. Detective Prince.”

A loud exhale and a hum emanated from the brunette, who continued sucking on his straw until the purple concoction ran out, leaving the ice clinking against the sides of the glass. “Let’s see,” he paused for a moment, “ After I was taken away from my Great Aunt and Uncle I was sent to an orphanage. Upon my arrival, I had found that the paper that you had written all your contact details on had been severely water damaged, as well as most of my belongings, so I couldn’t write you- even though I really wanted to. I spent the rest of middle school in solitude, I didn’t speak for months at a time back then. There wasn’t really a need to.” His expression was a bit dour, until a small spark lit up in his eyes, “ But then I stumbled across an opportunity. I wasn’t adopted, nobody wants teenagers- but I was sponsored, and it got me out of that hell hole. I managed to get the attention of law enforcement by helping solve a case that had happened in the local area around the orphanage. They called me a prodigy, a genius- and so I became the Second Detective Prince. Popularity and TV appearances are something that I just started doing recently, and only because of my involvement with the mental shutdown cases.”

Akira nodded, noticing how sparse some of the details of his story were, but he wasn’t going to pry. It wasn’t his place to ask about it, especially since the pain was still present. He could sense it in the other boy’s tone of voice, and how he was acting as if it didn’t bother him.

“So where do you live now then?” he asked, curious about the whole sponsor arrangement.

“An apartment near here. As long as I’m doing my part on assigned cases, I get my apartment and amenities paid for, as well as an allowance. It’s not a bad deal, especially considering the alternative.”

Akira winced at that, but Goro was right. If he hadn’t stumbled across this sponsor, he would probably be in a facility, waiting for the day he became a legal adult so he could leave the system for good.

That burning, flaring sensation sizzled in Akira’s brain. He was fairly familiar with it now. It was the same part of him that he associated with Arséne; rebellious, vengeful, protective, hateful. Aggressive feelings in general if he was being honest, but they were also inspiring. Without them he would have never awoken his Persona in the first place. He was actually a bit upset that he couldn’t tell Goro about his Persona, it seemed like something he would like. Back in Inaba he would always talk about his fantasy adventure books, and what is more fantasy adventure than being a Phantom Thief in the Metaverse, taking names, and stealing hearts? Maybe later down the line, when things were a bit more steady, and the Phantom Thieves were more than a rumor at his school.

“You live in Kichijoji?”

“Yeah, my apartment is about a ten minute walk from here. It gets lonely sometimes, but I do enjoy the area. Plus it’s nothing I haven’t dealt with before.”

_He could relate._

“How about you, where do you live?”

“A cafe in Yongen-Jaya, it’s called LeBlanc. The owner makes a mean cup of coffee.”

“You live in a cafe?”

“Yeah, in the attic.”

“Huh, sounds cozy,” he looked over the mophead with keen eyes, “It fits you.”

“What do you mean?” _Seriously Akira didn’t have a clue-_

“I can imagine you in a coffee shop, enjoying yourself. You used to make me lunch back in middle school, so it wouldn’t surprise me if you would have fun preparing coffee and food in a cafe. _Plus you like doting on people-_ ” he finished it off with a dramatic sigh.

Akira could feel his face heat up. _Whatever, if Goro was going to be like that-_

_“I liked doting on you- other people have to earn it.”_

That seemed to work, if the blush Goro was trying to cover and hide with his hand was anything to go by.

“I see-” his voice was a bit higher than usual, until he cleared his throat again.

_He would say that he won that time._

~ ~ ~

  
  


Focusing on the art gallery was a bit difficult, his eyes still feeling a bit bleary from another night of little sleep. He has barely managed to make the last train home after his meet up with Goro, and then had spent more of the night trying to plan when to meet up with him again over text. Needless to say Morgana gave him an earful when he finally showed up- he almost felt bad. But he couldn’t no matter how much Mona whined about being worried, because he finally had Goro back. That empty pit that had been in his gut for years, was finally sealing itself shut again. However, now that it was morning, looking at paintings right now, and trying to eavesdrop was admittedly harder than he thought it was going to be.

“Pay attention!” A paw pressed itself into the back of his neck before slipping back into the darkness of his bag. 

“Sorry,” he muttered lowly.

“Dude, did you not sleep? You’ve got bags.” Akira looked to his side to see Ryuji drawing circles under his own eyes. He lightly touched under his eyes and felt that the skin did feel a bit tender and puffy. He shrugged it off.

“I ran into someone I hadn’t seen in a while last night, stayed out a bit too late.”

“No way- was it someone from your hometown?” The curiosity in Ryuji’s voice was evident.

“Yeah, he lived there a while ago, but then moved away during middle school. We were close, but lost contact, so seeing him last night was a shock. We hung out and caught up.”

“I can relate. I didn’t move or anything, but when Ann and I were in different classes in Shujin it was like she fell off the face of the Earth, you know? We didn’t talk or hang out anymore- it felt weird not knowing what was up with somebody who used to be my friend.”

Akira shot him a smile, and readjusted his glasses. “Yeah, I get ya’.”

He felt the back of his head get battered by tiny feet, and a low hiss reached his ears.

“The mission! Remember!”

“Chill out Mona, we’re working on it.” Ryuji whispered back to Akira’s backpack, which rustled (probably in annoyance if the growling was anything to go by).

Akira made a hustle and walked around the gallery more, looking for anything that seemed suspicious. He wished he knew more about art in general, he wasn’t really sure what he was supposed to be spotting amongst the paintings on the wall, or what was considered odd in a gallery. He was definitely feeling his “middle of nowhere country boy” roots right now. This was actually the first time he’d ever been to something like an art exhibition, and he really didn’t know what to think.

“-’Kira come here, come check this out!”

Thankful to finally have something else to check out other than the three paintings he’d been trying to cross analyze, he happily walked over to Ryuji. The blonde gestured over to an area with his eyes, looking over there, then back at Akira. Tiredly Akira cocked his head to the side to see an old man talking to interviewers and guests at the gallery.

“Think that’s Madarame?”

“Well he’s an artist, and he looks like the posters of his face everywhere-”

“-Alright, alright, don’t be an ass just because you’re sleepy.”

Listening in on Madarame hadn’t confirmed a lot, but it definitely raised a few red flags. Intuitively the situation felt wrong- _it felt gilded._ Like there was a shiny pretty layer of bullshit layered neatly on top of the real nasty insidious truth- that or Akira was really tired and felt cranky. He couldn't tell anymore at this point.

When they met up with Ann later, she also expressed her doubt, even though they all collectively had zero evidence other than the shadow that had warned them about Madarame in the first place. But who knew how credible that was…

Akira sighed.

It’s too bad the guy hadn’t openly spoken about how he plagiarized artwork from his pupils, or how he was being nefarious and rotten, it would have made their jobs easier. 

From what Ann told them though, there definitely was something up , or at least she suspected so from the way Kitagawa had acted during the gallery, very off put and cold towards some of the pieces that were on the wall. His own work might have been hanging up in that exhibition for all they knew.

“By the way, what did ya’ do about that whole modeling thing?” Ryuji shot Ann a look, and then Akira, a big cheesy smile on his face.

Well at least they had a game plan for tomorrow.

~ ~ ~

  
  


_The plan didn’t work out very well._

_Unfortunate really-_

They accomplished nothing but making Kitagawa mad and defensive (he clammed up when Ryuji said he might be lying, which was another tell that made Akira feel icky about all this), they probably made Madarame suspicious of them, and then they found out that the master and pupil seemed to be nice people. But, because they were still unsatisfied with giving up on this case, they looked for Madarame in the MetaNav. Akira was a bit relieved that there was a hit, and that his nerves and instincts hadn’t failed him this time.

The museum they infiltrated had been _gross_ , to put it simply (lots of gold, really glitzy, gaudy decoration, it was definitely overcompensating for something). Dozens of portraits of past pupils, most of them teenagers and young adults, hung on the walls. Their images swam and rippled, as the figures inside of them moved as if they were prepping to pose for a photo. Finding Kitagawa’s picture wasn’t a shock, but made Akira feel hollow inside regardless, like he had been hoping that the aspiring artist had been spared from his master’s manipulation and cruelty somehow. That he wasn’t being treated like a commodity that pumped out artwork.

The really cherry on top of the metaphorical cake had been the golden statue titled _The Infinite Spring_ , which did nothing but wholly confirm their suspicions. But Morgana and Ann had insisted that they discuss it with Kitagawa before they agreed on stealing Madarame’s treasure (which Akira agreed to hesitantly, he felt as if it was fine to charge ahead right now- but he could see their point).

Now he was sulking back into LeBlanc, Morgana chatting loudly in his ear (which Sojiro had thankfully gotten used to by now, he just thought that Morgana was a very vocal kitty- which he was regardless of him actually speaking or “meowing”). Opening the door, the cheerful chime of the bell on the door welcomed him home, and he was greeted with a sickenly sugary smile. His TV interview smile if he was correct, laying on the frosting thick (Akira had looked up some clips on Youtube after Goro had told him about his segments he’d been on.)

“Welcome home~” Goro’s voice drawled out in a fake honeyed way.

_Already with the games today, huh?_

He probably deserved it after he had teased the other boy over text about it.

“Hi Goro~” He mimicked back, drawing out the “o” at the end.

He was satisfied with the roll of eyes and huff he received.

“How’d you like the coffee?” Akira asked, plopping down in the chair next to him. He gently placed his bag down, letting Morgana break free from it. 

“You weren’t lying when you said that this was the best cup around- I think I found my go-to coffee shop.” The brunette answered as he took another sip from the ceramic mug in front of him.

“Glad you think so-” Akira perked up when he saw Sojiro drift over to where the two boys were sitting, “ I take it that this is another one of your friends?” the older man asked with a brow raised.

“ _Ah-_ how rude of me, I’m Akechi Goro. Akira and I have actually known each other for a while. Nice to meet you sir, your coffee is phenomenal!” Goro gave a polite little bow of the head, or what he could manage while sitting at the counter.

Akira had to resist snorting- Goro really knew how to butter people up.

“No need for formalities, I’m Sakura Sojiro- most people call me Boss. I’m happy you're enjoying the coffee. Keep this guy out of trouble for me, yeah” Sojiro gestured to Akira, with a teasing smile.

“I don’t get into trouble that much,” Boss shot him a look, “-intentionally.” When he heard cat giggles echoing from beneath his chair he sighed. “Plus, he’s a detective, a predisposed goody-two-shoes.” Akira tilted his head towards the boy next to him.

Goro covered his laugh, side eyeing the black haired teen, as he sipped his coffee. Something mischievous was glittering in his eyes- and it was definitely nothing good from the sneaky smirk that quirked the corners of his mouth.

_Interesting._

“Fine, I’ll take your word for it, but I better not hear that you influenced him,” the chuckle and twist of Sojiro’s mouth also made Akira smile. “I’m going to head outside for a minute, watch the shop for me.”

As the door shut behind Boss, Goro turned and faced Akira.

“Goody-two-shoes?”

“I said it so Boss would get off my case. I know you’re mean- don’t have to prove it to me.” 

Flashbacks of a small Goro, snapping at the giant bully from their middle school floated to the forefront of his mind. There was also that time when they were walking home from school, that the bully had come back with his equally large friend to mess with them. But, when Goro had done nothing but scoffed at them when they walked by the duo, they left, probably feeling defeated that they apparently weren’t worthy of the brunette’s attention.

“ _Don’t you forget it.”_ Goro gave him another sharp toothed smirk, and then went back to nursing his coffee. Akira couldn’t help but feel smiley, even though he was being teased.

“Is this the guy you met with last night?” 

He raised his brows when he looked down to see big blue eyes staring at him, and nodded. Reaching down he scratched behind his ears, earning himself a loud purr.

“Oh, you have a cat?” The brunette seemed to perk up when he saw the feline.

“Yeah, this is Morgana.” He scooped Morgana up and placed him in his lap. “He got worried when I didn’t come back until really late last night. Right?” He gently tapped Morgana's little button nose.

“Of course I was worried! I wasn’t there to make sure you were safe,” a huffy meow confirmed. Akira petted him, calming him down.

“He’s quite a vocal cat.” Goro reached out his gloved hand, seeing if Morgana would let him pet him. After a small sniff, the not-cat rubbed his head against his palm, looking for more scratches and pets. Seeing his friends get along was nice- especially since Goro seemed excited to give Morgana scritches under his chin ( _that was cute- he couldn’t deny it_ ). It all felt very domestic, and comfortable- _this was the most comfortable he could remember being in a while (The Jazz Jin was nice, but it couldn't compare)._

“He’s very opinionated.” Akira admitted. He ended up receiving a light thwack in the stomach from a lashing cat tail. Morgana chose to largely ignore him after that if the purring was anything to go by, more focused on Goro rubbing his ears.

The rest of Goro’s visit was spent talking about mundane things ( _it didn’t feel mundane though, because talking with Goro was fun_ ), which turned to school- because of course it did. They were teenagers, they went to school and that was really it ( _except for Goro’s celebrity detective thing, and Akira’s Phantom Thief of Hearts thing_ ). When Goro found out that Akira had been held back a year on top of his absurd assault charge and probation (which had no name associated with the man who charged him)- he insisted that he would look into it. Even after Akira told him he didn’t have to, Goro shot him down and said that _he wanted to and was going to do it anyway_ (which made Akira feel soft inside, even if Goro had said it in his usual biting manner- _because_ _he really cared_ ).

Akira didn’t even notice that the time had been flying by until Goro looked at his wrist watch, which had been concealed under his overcoat’s cuff, and let out a big sigh. He gave Akira a disappointed look, his rusty irises seemed to dim a little.

“I didn’t notice how late it was, I have to go sadly. I’m scheduled for an early morning TV interview tomorrow, and then have to meet up with a coworker to go over some files on our current case.” He got up from his chair, picking up the silver briefcase by his side. “Today was nice, I’ll message you later-” the way his voice twisted into uncertainty at the end, made something churn in Akira’s chest.

He quickly reassured him with a quick nod, and as sincerely as he could he said, “Yeah.”

Grinning, Goro went to the door and paused before leaving, “Good, I’ll see you later then.”

“Bye Goro~”

And then, he was gone. 

He only had about a second of silence until Mona jumped on the counter in front of him ( _which he knew he wasn’t allowed to do- it made Sojiro upset)._ Morgana sat so that he and Akira were at the same eye level. In quick motions he swiped at his whiskers and ears, cleaning them, and then puffed out his chest when he was done, as if he was posing.

“ _Listen-”_

_Oh no- never a good way for any conversation to start off._

“I like Akechi. I think you two are good for each other.”

_Mona please- Don’t do this to him, not right now._

“But-”

_Spit it out already! He couldn't stand this circle talk._

“If you’re going to stay out late with him, I would like to know beforehand. I like knowing that you’re safe, and if I can’t be there to watch out for you, it would be nice knowing that Akechi is there in my stead.”

“Mona…” He stopped so he could put together his words, “Did you just give me your blessing for Goro?”

“Did I interpret it wrong, I thought that you guys were- you know...” 

“Say it, you coward.”

“I’m no coward! With the amount of flirting and googly eyes going on anybody would have thought so- who’s the real coward Akira!”

Akira couldn’t really say that he wanted to fight a cat before, but he really wanted to now. 

_Guess there’s a first time for everything._

And he did- _fight a cat_ \- but he will shamefully admit he did not win. After being harshly kitty smacked in the face several times (thankfully with no claws), he gave up. He only regretted admitting defeat when he looked behind himself to see Morgana sitting in his stool, watching him pad up the stairs with a triumph aura. The final blow being the small pink tongue that poked out of his mouth, mocking him.

_Monster._

~ ~ ~

  
  


“Akira I know we agreed on it yesterday in the palace, but I’m feeling a bit nervous about this.”

Ann, who’s entire head and face was buried under her long pigtails, was laying facedown on her arms on Akira’s desk. A drawn out whine came from the pile of hair.

“We’ll be there with you.” Akira said- partially yawned actually. When there was no response, he picked up a piece of hair and lifted it up so he could see his friend’s big aqua eyes, which peeked up toward him. “Ann?”

She groaned sitting up, extending her arms out all the way. “I know. I just don’t want to mess up. This is really important!”

“You won’t mess up-”

“But what if-”

“Ann,” he looked her dead in the eyes, “you won’t mess up. Kitagawa wants _you_ there, anything that you do he’d probably be thrilled about. He’ll probably be mad that me and Ryuji will be there-”

“I’ve never been an art model before though, what do I do?”

Lacking in any and all art expertise, he gave the best answer he could, and shrugged.

_“I dunno.”_

“Guess we’re all in the same boat then, huh,” she sighed, “What about you Morgana, do you know anything about art?”

A cat head poked out from Akira’s desk, “As Phantom Thieves it’s our duty to be able to understand and decipher the true meaning of art, and extricate its aesthetic appeal so we can figure out the true value of the treasures we steal- so yes. I know some things, regarding what’s considered “valuable art” as a whole.”

“Aren’t cats colorblind?” Akira couldn’t stop himself from pointing it out, he was still feeling bitter from last night.

“ _For the last time- I am not a cat!_ ”

“But you’re colorblind-”

“Only a little bit! So what if I can’t tell red from pink or orange-”

“Guys- do this later, people are staring!” Ann harshly whispered under her breath. Akira muttered a “sorry” and sat back in his chair, hoping that nobody got too curious about the loud meowing coming from his desk.

~ ~ ~

  
  


The next few days had been rough, but ultimately led them to returning to Madarame’s palace. Getting confirmation from Yusuke that Madarame plagiarized work from his students, and then furthermore finding out about the abuse and suicide of a pupil from a former apprentice (Nanakohara, the man whose Shadow had warned them in the first place about Madarame), had rapidly urged them to proceed with their heist. Even though none of them knew Yusuke well, there was a sense of fear for his well being- a protective urge that drove them to explore the palace once all their doubts were gone.

It was because he was a lot like them in a sense. Betrayed and used by adults, people who were supposed to watch out for you and guide you. It wasn’t hard to discern from the way that Yusuke had spoken about the use of his work, that it hurt him and made him feel lowly about himself. His own talents being used and abused by an vain old man. However, it was also clear that Yusuke cared a lot about Madarame, and viewed him as a father, someone who took him in and saved him from isolation.

Complicated family relationships were all too real in Akira’s book, so he understood it a little bit- even if the situation was vastly different from his own.

He tried to focus on the rush of emotion that flooded his veins as he fought through the palace. Ripping shadows to shreds, disintegrating them, freezing them, frying them, blowing them away- it didn’t matter. As long as it kept his heart pumping this fast he welcomed the violence, letting it fuel him to keep going.

~ ~ ~

  
  


From far away, hiding behind one of the many pillars of the museum, a masked figure watched as four thieves darted down a hallway.

_“Intriguing.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What can I say, I like fluff- but drama is fun too 👀


	4. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoop, new chapter! :D

“Ah, Kurusu-san, how funny that I bumped into you here.”

Akira could feel his insides groan in frustration.

_ He was too tired for this shit- _

“Good mornin’, Niijima-san.” He greeted, out of obligated politeness more than anything. When he closed his mouth he could feel his teeth clack together a little too harshly.  _ He really didn’t want to do this right now. _

“I couldn’t help but notice that you’ve been rather well behaved lately at school- what changed?”

The very obvious, fake, patronizing tone was grinding on his nerves a lot, but he knew that’s  _ why  _ she was doing it. Niijima wanted him to snap at her, to give her any excuse so she could “get” him.  _ Jokes on her, he wasn’t admitting shit _ \- not when the Madarame palace situation was progressing smoothly.

“Nothing.” he said flatly, keeping any and all emotion out of his voice (just like he used to do in Inaba).

The scarily bright red eyes (he wouldn’t be surprised if they glowed in the dark) that were dissecting him, felt like lasers. From the downturned corners of her lips, Akira could tell that she wasn’t satisfied with that answer ( _ Too bad~). _

“Are you sure? I can’t help but notice you look tired-” Akira could feel his eyes narrow at her, “-and with the scores that you got on your midterms, I don’t think studying is the cause of it.”

_ Low blow, Niijima- _

“I have a part time job.” He retaliated, feeling defensive (It’s not exactly a lie either). If he was being honest he felt drained, both physically and mentally- the constant trips to the Metaverse and material gathering he had to do for it was taxing. There was also the fact that even though Mona would patch him up with healing magic in the palace, he would still feel stiff and sore where the injuries had been.  _ It had gotten bad too- _ In his rush to explore further in the palace he would rip through shadows, and in turn got  _ pretty ripped  _ up himself. It got to the point where he was yelled at and criticized by the ‘healer types’ in their group ( _ If you even could call Ann that, she was better at setting stuff on fire in his opinion _ ) for being reckless. 

“Oh, really?” Her tone told him that she didn’t believe him. “Might I suggest you devote more time for your studies in the future- getting low scores reflects poorly on yourself _and_ our school. _As Student Council President, that’s just something_ _I can’t overlook_.”

The threat was definitely there- and he didn’t like it. He just wasn’t sure what she was planning to do. He hadn’t slipped up as far as he knew- but the potential danger in her voice was making Akira doubt himself.

“R-right.” He quickly responded and averted his eyes. The soft growling he could hear from inside his book bag actually comforted him in this instance.

_ Good Mona. _

The train ride to school was also tense. Niijima had opted to stand within eyesight of him, carefully watching him from the corner of her eye the entire trip to Shujin. When he finally slumped down into his desk in his classroom, he finally was able to breathe again, and let out a bone rattling sigh.

“That was horrible,” he muttered. 

Morgana crept out of his bag into the cubby of his desk, humming in thought as he did so. His tail flicked about, knocking his pencils out of the desk organizer he had inside. That apparently wasn’t enough to stop his stewing, as he mumbled a quick “Oh, sorry”, and smacked the pencils back into the little plastic bin.

“What’s on your mind, Mona?” he whispered, squinting at his feline friend.

“I’m worried about Niijima, and what her angle is- she’s suspicious of us- but why? I don’t think she would individually seek out the identities of the Phantom Thieves-” he meowed, sounding contemplative.

“You’re saying that as if she wouldn’t have anything to gain from revealing our identities?”

“Yeah! Someone had to put her up to the task- and that someone must have a motive against us for doing so- specifically it being related to Kamoshida somehow.”

“ _ And  _ that someone would have to have to have influence over her…”

“It’s probably the principal.” Ann interrupted as she sat down in her chair, comfortable leaning against Akira’s desk, as she usually did during their chats. “Everyone knows that Niijima-senpai is his favorite.” Blonde eyebrows then furrowed down, a more serious expression crossing her face, “Also has anyone ever told you, Akira, that you look really suspicious when you’re having a conversation with your desk? No offense Morgana!”

Akira huffed, and covered his head with his arm as he laid his face flat across the hard surface.

“None taken, Lady Ann!”

“Not even a good mornin’~” Akira grumbled into the wooden table.

“ _ Fine _ \- Good morning, Akira. Good morning, Mona.” Ann laughed as she greeted them, theatrically with a performer’s bow. “Better now?” she asked, with a quirk of her lips.

“Yeah~” Akira, rather dramatically said, a big sigh and all. He exchanged a grin with her before reverting the conversation back to the previous topic at hand, sitting upright in his chair.

“Do you think we should look into  _ that _ \- you know after the whole _ Madarame thing _ ?” his voice dropping in volume, as he scooted his head closer to Ann.

She matched him by also leaning in and whispering, “It would probably be a good idea, especially since she keeps following us around.”

“Who knows how much digging she’ll do, or how far she’s willing to go if she doesn’t get her desired results- it’s imperative that we stop her investigation from the source as soon as possible!” Morgana peaked over the lip of the desk, joining in on the conversation.

“I’ll message Ryuji and Yusuke about it later,” Ann finished as she sank back into a normal sitting position when Kawakami and the last of the students started trailing into the classroom. Akira mutely told her “thanks” before settling in himself, preparing himself for another lecture. He already knew that he would probably catch the first five minutes of information before his thoughts unintentionally stole his attention away. At least Morgana apparently listened to the lessons (he was Akira’s saving grace during the written essay section of exams, feeding him answers and explanations from under the table as he scribbled down what he thought sounded good). He would never tell his other friends that the cat helped him cheat though, he would never hear the end of it-

~ ~ ~

Jumping through paintings was a weird experience, that Akira couldn’t say he  _ didn’t like.  _ He definitely wasn’t saying it was great, but how many people can tell you that they hiked through a painted desert, or got thrown across a room by an acrylic kraken?

_ Weird- but a good weird. _

The team seemed to be glad to be resting up after their longer trek throughout the back end of the museum. They were a hop-skip-and-a-jump away from the treasure (or at least from the glimpse of steel bars and security lasers they saw while holing themselves away in the safe room, that’s what they were assuming). Also Mona had insisted that his “treasure senses” were tingling, so Akira had a good feeling about this- because the only thing that the not-cat got  _ freaky _ about ( _ other than his questionable and rather sad crush on Ann- poor Morgana)  _ was anything gold, shiny, or valuable.

What he wasn’t feeling so great about was the set of teeth marks on his arm (Inugami apparently liked to bite when they started to panic, who knew-). Removing his coat, and placing it on the back of a chair, he inspected it- and nearly gagged in the process.

_ He wasn’t ready to see that- especially since it was  _ **_his own arm._ **

“Mona, Panther, somebody-” his voice left him shakily.

“Oh jeez, that’s nasty.” Skull sauntered up to him, and stared directly at the wound, unphased by it whatsoever. He was then joined by the newest member, Fox, who also seemed unperturbed by the injury.

“The symmetry of the bite is impressive- each tooth mark is nearly identical to the-”

Akira held up his other hand in a plea for mercy, “Please don’t talk about it.”

His silver eyes looked over to see Panther and Mona having a chat.

“Can you get this one Mona, I need to recharge for a bit. I’m running on fumes right now.” Panther panted, fanning herself with her hand as she did so. That was fair, Ann had been blasting fire a lot today ( _ no thanks to Akira _ ).

The short feline padded up to Akira, looking up at him with a judgemental gaze and waved at him to bend down to his level. “Come here, Joker.”

After he squatted down and gave Mona his arm, he felt the gentle tingles of healing magic close up the holes in his arm. A soft green glow warping around the wounds, making them dissolve as if they had merely been an illusion. He couldn’t help the relieved exhale that left his nose after all traces of the wound had vanished.

“You should be more careful, especially as we get closer to the treasure. We should be conserving our energy just in case-  _ which means avoiding any unnecessary conflict and injury _ .” Giant blue eyes narrowed at him as he was scolded.

“As much as I hate to admit it, the cat has a point, Joker. You’ve been a bit trigger happy dude.” Skull added, a big cheesy grin lighting up his face when Mona grumbled curses under his breath.

“Sorry- we’ll proceed quietly from here on.” Akira relented, a hand reaching up to cover the back of his neck as he bashfully stood up and grabbed his coat. “I've just been feeling a bit antsy since this morning.” The admittance resulted in all eyes in the room training on him, various levels of curiosity and worry present.

“Does it have to do with the text Panther sent to me and Skull?” Fox asked, his dark eyes peering out from behind his kitsune mask. Akira was actually a bit touched that Fox, even though the artist just met him and the rest of the Phantom Thieves, already seemed to care about everyone’s wellbeing. He had eccentric tastes, but was refreshingly blunt when speaking (It was borderline rude sometimes the way Yusuke phrased things, but Akira liked it- Yusuke just says what he thinks.).

“I think so.” He gave the team a quick nod, before sitting down. He felt like he was deflating as he sunk into the chair, letting his tense muscles rest for a minute. The rustling of the other thieves pittered about as they retreated into their own spots, opening snacks and drinks to replenish energy and magic with.

_ He wasn’t going to worry his team and tell them about the horrible gut feeling he had. It was a lingering fear that danced along his spine and the nape of his neck, but he refused to vocalize his stress to the others. It was probably just his nerves acting up because of the Palace anyway. _

~ ~ ~

Akira felt considerably better now than he had a few days prior, he had been able to sleep again thankfully (no Igor or stress induced dreams had bothered him- yay~). The Thieves had stolen the unaltered original  _ Sayuri  _ from Madarame’s Palace, and it now hung in LeBlanc- a memento to their successful mission. Looking at it after everything that had happened made something in Akira’s chest twist. It served as a reminder of the final encounter between Master and Pupil, of the anger, betrayal, and hurt that had been bared by Yusuke at the revelation of his former mentor watching and letting his mother die. However, it also served as a parting message, a gift from mother to son, expressing tender unconditional love (which made Akira’s heart feel sore and bruised).

It was nice to see Yusuke get some closure, and muster up the resolve to continue his art career. He still cared about his Master, Akira could tell from the sorrow that flickered across Yusuke’s face whenever he spoke about Madarame, but he was also starting to become more reliant on himself. Seeing his new friend (which was something he was glad he could be to Yusuke) chase after his dreams, was impressive- Yusuke really was something else (he even told Akira that he was moving into the dorms at his school after everything was done). Every time that the blue haired boy gave them all an update on Madarame’s status, he felt as if the bond with his team grew stronger, that his trust in everyone was mutual (it was a relieving feeling, having others to lean on, especially when they all depended on him too).

They still had a few days before the deadline, so Akira was again left with time to deal with his own personal endeavors. He originally had shot Haru a message over text asking if she wanted to hang out sometime soon (as he hadn’t seen her for a while, even at school), but she politely declined and said that she was busy after school for the next week or so. She had left it at that and hadn’t elaborated on the manner, but Akira could only assume it had to do with the company troubles that she had told him about previously. He could only hope that everything was okay on her end, knowing how stressed she had seemed before.

Next, he found himself excitedly pulling up his text log with Goro, seeing their messages from last night appear. Akira couldn’t help but smile fondly at them as he sent another text, asking Goro if he was free to meet up. He quickly got an answer back (he was thankful for Goro always responding timely to his messages), and ended up jumping on a train to Kichijoji.

~ ~ ~

As Goro felt his cell phone buzz in his pocket, a sense of dread filled him. Whoever was messaging him at this time of day would result in- what was now much more uncomfortable and stressful- conversations. Considering it was right when school was getting out though (he sighed as he looked out the window of his apartment- files he had to look over sitting on the small table in front of his couch, untouched- work was pointless and boring- especially since all the evidence was fake and planted anyway), he was suspecting it was probably a certain frizzy haired individual. He definitely preferred the company of the black haired boy anyway, Akira, while quiet, definitely was unique. Or at least he was to the brunette.

In all his years of transience and loneliness, Goro could clearly say that he never met anyone else quite like the boy from Inaba. One would assume that Akira was passive, due to his reserved nature, but the detective knew better. Akira was expressive in other ways (the kaomojis had been a surprise while texting), and liked to show how he felt through physical touches and gestures usually (Goro had been a bit caught off guard when the bed head had crushed him in a hug when they ran into each other at the train station- but he should have been expecting it,  _ because it was Akira).  _ Sometimes the other boy would give him gifts, usually homemade food, which made something grossly nostalgic and warm stir in his stomach.

These feelings and emotions that Akira roused in him were somewhat frustrating, if he was being honest. After being apathetic, and then angry and vengeful for so long- to feel happy because of somebody else was strange. He used to think that he was happy when his plan to trap Shido, and to force him to recognize Goro as his son, was working (following a set schedule he set in place). But it was nothing like the soft fluttering feeling he got when Akira’s eyes and nose scrunched up when he grinned, or when the other boy bumped shoulders with him.

_ It was confusing- and he didn’t like it. _

Feeling this self-doubt, now of all times, was the worst. He couldn’t take back what he’s done to get to this point- all the manipulation, lies, and blood.

_ It was permanent. There were no take backs. _

_ He was tainted- _

But memories of walking with his best friend to school- large quick-silver eyes looking at him soulfully- the nearly feline smirk that Akira would shoot at him whenever the two were teasing each other-

It made him almost want to forget about Shido, and to forget about the whole damn Metaverse- but he couldn’t. Even if he turned his back on his plan (which he couldn’t afford to do with how many people he put into the ground for it, as well as Shido having surveillance on him if he decided to make a run for the hills), Akira was in that palace.

_ There was no denying it. _

Akira, donning a costume and mask, along with several other people he didn’t recognize, were fighting shadows and making their way through a Palace. Goro had been there merely to check in on Madarame, who had connections with Shido, and so forth. It had happened by pure coincidence that Shido had sent him there to investigate (though now he didn’t think so). He had heard about the strange incident at Shujin Academy, about the “change of heart”. He was told about it by Shido’s lackeys, and then by the man himself. It had been more of a tense exchange of words (almost an interrogation), because as far as Shido knew, Goro was the only person who was able to use the Metaverse like he did. Thus, until Goro could prove otherwise, he was suspicious, not only to his bastard father, but to all his allies and connections.

It wasn’t that hard to connect the dots though. Especially since Goro would never bother with a small fry like Kamoshida, unless he was prompted to do so (and he knew that there was no way in hell that he triggered anything in the man, who was now rotting in jail).

After shadowing the group throughout the Palace, and warning Madarame’s shadow about the thieves (and subtly threatening him to get his shit together), he decided to leave the group be. 

Goro wasn’t a fool. He had heard Akira’s voice, authoritative and loud. The other boy had been barking battle tactics to his group, quickly analyzing and deciphering enemies and their weaknesses on the field.

If it had been anybody else other than Akira, he might have terminated the group outright (as he could clearly see their lack of experience and firepower from their meager attacks-  _ it would have been easy) _ . It would ultimately be easier to operate in the Metaverse if there was no potential competition or trouble makers running around. Preventing complications before they could happen.

_ But- _

_ Complications did happen _ . 

Akira had been in the Metaverse- his costume implying he had awoken a Persona (Or multiple? He had seen Akira use several different personas when following the group)- and he was forcing people to have a change of heart (without inciting a mental shutdown, which is something he has yet to figure out). Shido didn’t know about Akira yet, and Goro wasn’t going to tell him any time soon- but it left him at an impasse. Goro was no longer a valuable sole asset if there were multiple Metaverse users running around, psychologically altering the minds of sick individuals, who’s world views were distorted beyond recognition. 

_ It made him vulnerable- _

_ It turned him into a cheap commodity if there were others- especially if they got into contact with Shido’s crowd. _

He could feel a singeing fire burn at the back of his skull- rage. Unintentionally, he could feel his fists ball up and clench as tight as they could, his molar grinding down on each other.

_ Goro hated this- _

_ Because... _ he couldn’t hurt Akira- never. The thought of that made him nauseous and shaky (but there was another part of him that hissed and snarled, angry and possessive- because Akira was  _ his _ ). But, the panicked voice inside his soul, also reminded him that he could never tell Akira that he knew about the Metaverse. If he let him know that he knew, it would only be a matter of time before he found out about the murders, the plots, how he had been a weapon for an  _ evil evil man.  _

He had to prevent his best friend’s escapades into the Metaverse from continuing, that was the only way for any of this to resolve without Akira getting involved in Shido’s game- but he wasn’t sure how to do that without being obvious about it.

_ He would sleep on that one- there had to be something that he could do. _

Goro took a deep breath, exhaling harshly out of his nose and mouth before slowly unfurling his fists. One of his hands fished out his phone from his pocket, and he checked his messages, seeing one new text from Akira. It asked if he was free to go out with him. As much as Akira was causing him undue stress and anxiety, he also was the only person that could make him feel better (about anything actually). His presence alone was comforting, as Akira didn’t expect anything from him- didn’t want or need anything from him- he was happy to just exist and be by Goro’s side. Which was what he found he needed a lot more than he liked to admit these days, relishing in the company of the quiet teen (that he had so sorely missed- and hadn’t realized he had).

So in turn, Goro invited Akira out to a restaurant by his apartment, set on meeting him there. He quickly changed into a set of casual clothing (a white button up, and a blue argyle sweater that complemented his hair color), checked the mirror in his bathroom to make sure his hair and face looked alright (patting on a little concealer to cover the developing bags under his eyes), and then started walking towards the place he had suggested they go to. He got there a bit early, as he intended, and waited for the other boy to arrive, tapping his foot as he did so.

When a fluffy mop of hair bounced into his sight, he was greeted by a wave as Akira approached. A small smile quirking at the corners of the other’s mouth- genuine and sweet. Goro could feel metaphorical claws slash at his guts, and squeeze his heart in a vice grip- it was such a contrast to what he had seen in that Palace.

_ And he thought he was good at pretending- _

“Hey,” Akira lightly bumped into his side, grinning at the brunette.

Goro managed to smile back, and tilted his head towards the front door of the restaurant, gesturing to go inside. “ _ Hey yourself _ \- let’s grab a table,” he said, keeping his tone light and airy.

_ He couldn’t let Akira know that anything was wrong. _

~ ~ ~

_ Something was up- _

Akira could tell from Goro’s slightly tenser than usual body language. His movements were a bit too rigid, and his smiles didn’t reach all the way up to his eyes.

“Is something up at work? You seem stiff today-” The casual comment rolled off his tongue without him meaning to vocalize it. It had wormed its way out it seemed. However, he was able to observe that the light drumming of Goro’s fingers on the wood of the table stopped for a second before continuing.

The brunette laughed- it sounded forced and nervous, rather than real and chimey like his usual chuckles. “Staring at me again are you- at this rate you’re going to start giving me ideas~”.

_ He dodged the question  _ **_and_ ** _ was being flirty- dirty move! _

Especially since it worked- Akira could feel his face heating up, and he had to break eye contact. He swore he could hear Morgana’s taunts in his ears again, making fun of him for being afraid. Maybe he was a little bit, when it came to his best friend. He didn’t have these problems when he fake flirted with his other friends (they either ignored him, joked back, or fake flirted back, like Goro did- but none of them managed to make him speechless like this). This felt different from all those other times, and he couldn’t exactly find the words why.

His eyes flicked back over to Goro’s face, and he nearly pouted as he huffed, “You already have ideas. Too many of ‘em.”

The first relaxed smile of the night- even if it was smug- painted itself on the other boy’s mouth, clearly satisfied with himself.  He brushed aside some of his chestnut bangs, as he sipped from his water glass, eyes honing in on Akira’s- never diverting his attention elsewhere. It reminded Akira of a lion drinking from a watering hole, eyes sharp, muscles bound tight- ready to lunge if necessary (He had to vanquish the thought of a lion in a sweater vest quickly from his mind though, before he got distracted). 

“You have no idea.” The wink that accompanied that was totally unnecessary in Akira’s opinion. Absolutely none of this was good for his heart.

“Oh yeah, of what?”

He grabbed his own water, feeling oddly dry-mouthed all of a sudden.

“How much I think of you~”

Akira nearly choked on a mouthful of water, gulping it down uncomfortable.  _ That definitely went down the wrong pipe-  _ The shit eating grin, large, crooked and nastily smug, as well as the flutter of Goro’s eyelashes was enough to get him hot under his collar, and to shut him up temporarily.

_ Goro may have won this time- but he would make a come back- if he could remember how to speak again. _

A waiter stopped by before he could find his voice again, placing the parfaits that they had ordered neatly in front of them (Goro wanted to order one, and because Akira was hungry he also got one). After watching Goro take a couple pictures of his food (for his foodie blog), and after being suckered into a couple pictures with him as well, Akira could feel his resolve come back- slowly but surely.

He cleared his throat, “So- _ are things okay? _ ”

Piercing crimson eyes scrutinized him, but then lost their harshness. A sigh left the brunette sitting across from him, the other teen was tapping his finger against the spoon in his parfait. “You’re still on that, huh?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm- persistent as usual.”

“I’m persistent because I care- and you’re making me equal parts worried and curious with the avoidant answers.” Akira tilted his head, resting his chin on his fist. He shoveled more of his parfait into his mouth, excited to finally reach the layer of berries in the desert.

“You shouldn’t worry about me, I’m fine. Work’s just been busy, and many of my coworkers are  _ unpleasant _ to be around for extended periods of time. That’s really it- nothing unusual.” Goro shrugged, he was inspecting his nails. He looked up, and once again Akira felt like he was the one being put under the microscope.

“If you say so- but I’m never going to stop worrying about you-”

“Don’t get sappy on me now Akira.”

“I’ve always been sappy, so I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Hmm, true~”

Akira couldn’t help but snort, and then embarrassingly covered his face when Goro looked at him in surprise, which then morphed into realization, then a teasing grin.

“Hey,” Akira peaked out from behind his fingers, then then removed his hands completely, interested in what the other boy had to say. “If I tell you about my day, and how I am, I expect you to let me know if something is bothering you as well. I’ve heard all about how that gym teacher at your school was arrested- if you run into trouble let me know. I can see what I can do about it.” The tone it was said in was edging on seriousness- Goro was being sincere, in his own (almost perceivably cold- but that’s how Goro showed he cared) way. His eyes simmered with something dark and molten, it was nearly overwhelming to keep eye contact- but Akira found that he couldn’t look away.

_ This was all too much for him- _

“ _ So you do care~”  _ The sharp glare he got made him chuckle, “I will Goro. I promise.” He finished by raising up his hand as if he was taking an oath.

Goro nodded, his eyes still burning. Akira could feel his skin prickle and spark as those red irises bore into his own silver ones.

Akira wanted to believe that Goro knew what he was doing, and was purposely making him squirm- but he felt too safe, playing ignorant and dumb. It gave him some form of protection for the very vulnerable feelings that swirled inside him. God, Mona was right,  _ he was a goddamn coward. _

~ ~ ~

Weight was pressing down on his chest, air being forcibly squeezed out of his lungs. The pressure crawled upward, until he felt two little feet press into the side of his face, persistent meowing loud in his ear. Akira exhaled dramatically through his nose, trying to get the early morning demon to leave him alone.

_ Couldn’t a guy get some sleep on his one day off? _

“Wake up, come on! We’re going to be late!”

The boy tried to wave at and shoo the whiskered fiend away, keeping his eyes tightly shut. He grumbled and rolled over, burying his face deeper into his pillow.

“No! Don’t ignore me!” He felt aggressive tiny smacks hit the back of his skull repeatedly. Akira groaned, annoyed, most of the sound being muffled by the cotton filling and mattress. One silver eye popped out from underneath his mop of black hair as he glared at the black and white beast that sat next to him.

“Morgana you’re a monster,” the sound that left him was similar to a growl.

“I am not missing shopping with Lady Ann because your lazy butt won’t wake up, so come on and get ready!” The blue gaze of the feline watched him keenly.

The teen sighed and got up-  _ time to start the day _ .

~ ~ ~

Going to Harajuku, admittedly made Akira feel like the country bumpkin that he was. This was truly culture shock (the art gallery was one thing, but the vibe here was completely different). Seeing the many varied fashion choices that the people wore around, made him feel strange for looking so-  _ basic- no, vanilla might be a better term for it. _ Getting caught by his city friends, when he stared at every pastel frill, leather belt, or neon stripe, obviously led to what happened next.

“Akira, we’re dressing you up.” Ann didn’t even leave it as a suggestion, it was happening. And it was made all the more clear when she grabbed him by the hand and dragged him inside one of the trendy stores that lined the street. Ryuji and Mishima, who were following closely behind them, were chatting animatedly, egging her on. He could feel excitement and curiosity sparking inside him, happy to let his friends play ‘dress up’ with him. 

Their enthusiasm was infectious. Any initial hesitation Akira had quickly died when Ryuji had slung feather boas over both of their heads, accompanied with colored sunglasses and other accessories. Posing for a multitude of selfies and photos had been fun too. A collection of pictures including the various more ‘princely’ outfits he tried on (fancy formal menswear that Ann found for him), some of him and Mishima wearing goth attire (which he wore because Mishima didn’t want to be singled out), several were trendy outfits (which he did purchase a few of to expand his very limited wardrobe), and lastly some sillier photos of him and the rest of the group in various hats and accessories making stupid faces at the camera. It all made Akira realize that he might like being the center of his friends’ attention a little too much. They could probably convince him to do anything for them, and he didn’t have a problem with that- because he couldn’t remember the last time he laughed or smiled so much that his cheeks hurt like this.

_ It was nice just being a dumb teenager sometimes... _

On the train ride home in the late afternoon Ann was scrolling through the photos on her phone, showing them to him.

“You should show off your eyes more-” she said as she stopped on a photo. He was in some casual wear (some that was actually in his shopping bag right now), and his glasses weren’t on his face, they were stolen and being worn by Ryuji who had a shit eating grin in the background of the picture.

“-’Specially since your glasses are fake!” Ryuji gave him a toothy smile as he slung his arm around his neck. A comfortable gesture that he had grown used to.

“Why do you wear those things anyway?” Mishima chipped in, standing next to Ann, looking at the pictures as well.

“Uh-” Akira could feel his face get a bit flushed.

“It’s ‘cuz he’s shy. Doesn’t like people staring at his face, right dude?” Ryuji answered for him. The flat silver stare that he received made the blonde chuckle.

“Really?” Mishima glanced at the two of them, his voice laced with surprise.

“ _ No- I’m not shy _ .” Akira shot another look at Ryuji, shrugging off the arm that was wrapped around him. The sternness in his voice apparently hadn’t been convincing if the look he got back was anything to go by. 

“Then start showing off your face, you’re really pretty, but nobody can tell because you hide under all that hair and those big glasses.” Ann pushed up his bangs for a second, and as soon as she let go the mass of black curls fell back over the top of his glasses’ frames. She huffed, no doubt trying to come up with a way to tame the wild nest that sat on his head.  _ He wishes her luck in that endeavor, as in all his 17 and a half years of life he has never figured out how to style it _ .

“Show off your goods man, not everyone is out here with a handsome face.” Ryuji added, Ann nodding in agreement. Akira looked to Mishima for help, and received nothing but a shrug and a nervous smile. God peer pressure was nerve wracking-  _ but he did appreciate what they were trying to do. _

_ But still- he’d appreciate it if they didn’t. _

“Maybe during the summer- I still don’t really feel comfortable at Shujin,” he mumbled. A victorious chirp from Ann, and a happy hum from Ryuji told him that they liked that answer. He could feel his book bag shake, a snarky laugh coming from inside.

The faintest meow of “pushover” reached his ears.

He muttered a small “whatever” back to the snarky creature, his voice sounding more cheerful than anything.

~ ~ ~

He’d say that the next week had been pretty solid. He finally caught the name of that red-haired gymnast that he kept hearing rumors about at school (he could relate), it was Yoshizawa Kasumi. They officially met at the school clean up at the park, and he was thankful for the company after being abandoned by his rude team members. She seemed like a kind person, and she was willing to teach him some gymnastic forms- which was admittedly pretty cool. Akira hoped she would loosen up though in the future, she was a bit too overly formal- or perhaps he was just too used to his friends now acting casually with him.

The Madarame situation had come to a close. The old man had held a press conference admitting to his sins, crying and apologizing- it was a bit of a mess actually. What mattered is that they saved Yusuke, they made Madarame atone for his crimes, and the Phantom Thieves gained a bit more attention thanks to the press. The media as a whole was perplexed by the calling card, claiming it was a prank or something unrelated to what had happened to Madarame. That was until someone had brought up the Kamoshida case, and how there was also a calling card and “Phantom Thieves of Hearts” involved. Akira had to tune the news out when he was working in the cafe otherwise he would find himself laughing at the different conspiracy theories being thrown around by different journalists and newscasters on TV. Sojiro had already given him a couple of confused looks throughout the work day when he failed to conceal the beginnings of laughter.

_ He couldn’t help it- it was thrilling- hearing about his own “crimes” and pretending to know no better about anything. _

_ It was fun~ _

The sneaky smirk on his face was reflected by his smug cat friend. They often shared a knowing look with each other, and Morgana would purr loudly, very pleased with himself. As he should be- as all the Phantom Thieves should be.

Akira could feel it in his bones, blooming into a fast rush of adrenaline- 

_ This was merely the beginning _ ~

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time we're getting into canon divergent territory friends!


	5. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for how long this took to get out! I got super busy irl with work and prepping to go back to school!

When Akira spotted the detective, sitting at his usual spot at the counter, as he went through the front door of LeBlanc, he immediately dropped his bag (letting Morgana escape) and pulled out the chair next to him. He leaned on his elbow, inspecting the brunette’s face with a sharp silver glare. Goro, apparently didn’t understand what was going on, from the crease in his brow, and confusion in his expression.

“Um hi… Is something wrong?” He touched his face, looking for something to be there, as if Akira was staring at a blemish or mark.

“I don’t know, is there?”

There was a tense silence that lingered for much longer than was comfortable in any social setting (especially with the wide blank stare that the silver-eyed boy was giving Goro).

“You’re going to have to be more specific Akira, as much as my investigative skills are praised, I’m not a psychic.”

A loud, frustrated exhale puffed out of the mop head’s nose, his shoulders sagging a bit as if he was deflating with the release of air, like a punctured balloon.

“You didn’t tell me when your birthday was Goro-”

“Akira-”

“I found out because some of the girls from school were talking about it- why didn’t you tell me?”

“It’s really not a big deal-”

“Wrong!” 

Goro blinked, shocked- he’s never heard Akira raise his voice like that before.

“ _It is a big deal-_ and I’m hurt you didn’t tell me-” his voice trailing off into a whine.

“I haven’t celebrated my birthday since I was eight, I don’t really see a reason why I should celebrate it now.” Goro’s eyes looked down and away from Akira’s intense stare.

“Even so, you could have told me your birthday was _four days ago!_ We’re doing something to make up for it.”

“You don’t have to-”

“-I have to.”

“I don’t understand why you’re being so stubborn about this, it’s just some overly sentimental excuse to have cake.”

Akira sighed through gritted teeth. “First off, any excuse to have cake is valid- cake is great. Second, it’s not overly sentimental to celebrate my friend’s eighteenth birthday with him-”

“But-”

“- _Because,_ I wanted to show you how much you mean to me, by spoiling you on your birthday. But you didn’t tell me- _your best friend_ \- when it was, so now we’re celebrating it late.”

“What- you don’t mean right now do you?”

“As much as I want to- no. This requires planning, and I haven’t gotten a chance to get you a present yet.” The huffy teen flopped his head onto his arms, burying his face in them. He peered out from them, face still smooshed in the cradle his arms formed, and saw Goro looking flustered.

“I didn’t realize that I meant so much to you~” Even though the brunette’s face was red, he still managed to coo his taunt into Akira’s ear. The frizzy haired boy clenched his teeth, about to retaliate and say something back, when he felt a puff of air blow into his ear. He squeaked, scratched his head rapidly, and covered his ears, feeling sensitive and vulnerable.

_What a little shit-_

He glared at the detective, seeing him laugh at Akira.

“You can pretend to be as heartless as you want, I know you like me- deep down.” Akira grumbled, hiding his face again.

“Yeah~ I do.” 

He swore he could feel Goro’s breath still lingering, tickling the side of his head. Carefully he looked out from his makeshift shield, and nearly gasped when he saw a set of red rusty irises- at a much closer distance than he was used to seeing them at.

This in any circumstance would be considered a very emotionally charged moment- and it would have been- if he hadn’t heard Morgana chortling from underneath his chair. 

_Wow- thanks Morgana._

“ _Awwwww~”_ The mocking tone and all really felt like a smack in the face at this point. 

He could do nothing but sigh and try to shoo away the not-cat, his cheeks feeling like they were on fire.

“Shush, kitty.” 

The feline laughter still danced in his ears, even as he could hear cat paws pad up the attic stairs.

“ _Morgana is quite a noisy cat_.” Goro hummed. 

“Noisy doesn’t even begin to cover it.” Akira muttered flatly. He sat up and turned to his friend, feeling a bit like his nonexistent feathers had been ruffled. “So birthday stuff?”

“If you insist.”

What neither of the boys had seen, had been Sojiro rolling his eyes as he scrubbed cups and plates in the sink, shaking his head as he did so.

_Are all kids this oblivious these days?_

~ ~ ~

“Why would the principal want to unmask the Phantom Thieves in the first place?” Ryuji questioned as he threw down a bag of soil, next to the garden plot. He looked to Morgana who was busy sunning himself, next to Akira who was digging in the dirt.

“How would I know, that’s why we’re discussing this,” a tired meow huffed a bit pompously, the feline opened one eye to look at the loud teenager.

Before the bleached blonde had a chance to retort, Ann cut him off, “Do you think Principal Kobayakawa would have anything in his office about it- like notes or files?” She gently placed down a potted plant next to Akira, which he softly thanked her for.

“Even if he did, there’s no way in hell I’m stepping foot inside of there.” Ryuji said, a certain fear lingering in his voice.

“Gotta agree there- it’s too much of a self-fulfilling prophecy to get caught if we sneak around there,” Akira affirmed. Niijima still had a sharp eye on them. Thinking that they could successfully avoid her gaze for the whole lunch period was just unrealistic at best.

“Maybe we should just check his name in the MetaNav? There’s no harm in trying, right?” The blonde girl twirled one of her large pigtails around her finger, a sign of nervousness that Akira had come to recognize throughout their many chats together.

“We should wait until we have Yusuke with us then before trying it- just in case.” Morgana yawned, stretching out his spine and then sitting upright. “Are you almost done?” the feline meowed at Akira.

He nodded, “Yeah, just give me another minute.”

“It’s nice of you to do this for Haru when she’s been absent man, but did you really need us all to help you out?” Ryuji sighed, leaning against the little foldable table that was set up on the roof.

He looked over his shoulder and glanced at Ryuji, before returning to tending to the garden. “It was the only way to meet up with everybody without Miss President spying on us-”

“-Oh sorry am I interrupting something?”

_Speak of the devil-_

If it was possible, Akira would have just willed himself into vanishing into thin air at that point- because of course she would show up, like he had summoned her by merely whispering her name.

“Nope, just waiting for our buddy to finish up gardening.” Ryuji said in an overly friendly voice. 

_Good acting-_

_Definitely not suspicious whatsoever-_

“As far as I’m aware that’s not Kurusu-san’s job to worry about.” The matter-of-fact tone grinded against the black haired boy’s nerves. He couldn’t tell if he just felt tired at this point, or angry- maybe both. All he could say for certain is that his whole body felt heavier than usual.

“I’m filling in for my friend until she returns to school, she asked me to watch over the plants for her while she’s gone.” He stood up and brushed off the dirt from his clothes as he did so, looking over his shoulder to see Niijima, standing by the door with an all too assured smile on her face.

_Something about that didn’t sit right with him._

“And your friend is~”

“Okumura.”

A fake smile, more like a grimace painted itself on her face. “She’s lucky to have such a considerate friend.” 

_How does someone even say something, meant to be a nicety and compliment, in such a belittling way?_

“If you’re done however, I’ll need you to leave the roof. It’s off limits since it seems _certain students_ like to sneak up here without permission.” 

They ended up leaving pretty quickly after that. Of course they didn’t pass by the Student Council President without an exchange of harsh glares, and tense body language. At least Niijima didn’t seem to say anything about the cat, that not so subtly jumped into Akira’s bag, grabbing it before he headed back inside the school building.

It was worrying. He wasn’t sure how much Niijima knew, or what she'd heard or seen these past few weeks. She’s never really tried to be super stealthy when observing them, but now he wasn’t sure. He always thought that Niijima intentionally made her presence known in order to scare him. It could possibly be an act however, so they would let their guard down. That’s assuming that they already haven’t slipped up, and now Niijima was baiting them for a final confirmation, or something along those lines. He could feel a panicked, nervous energy gurgle in his stomach, making the taste of bile coat the back of his throat- he felt like prey being toyed with. Small, fearful, and running from the inevitable predator that was waiting in the bushes, patiently, ready to strike confidently and fatally. The fact that his metaphorical and quite literal hunter was Niijima Makoto, made Akira feel a certain pettiness towards her.

He supposed it was because in a way Niijima reminded Akira of himself in Inaba- sucking up to others, especially adults. Those same adults betrayed him- they left him with no support or options, when things got rough. When it became too inconvenient for them to intervene in his situation he was just cast aside- thrown out. And as bitter as he felt towards the Student President, he hoped that she wasn’t being used- as it wouldn’t be the first time that an adult at Shujin abused their power ( _and wouldn’t really be that surprising either at this point)_.

After being chased away from the roof, the group agreed to discuss Niijima and the principal more later- preferably when they weren’t being watched and followed. They broke off from each other at Shibuya, Ryuji going to pick up groceries for his mom, Ann jumping on her train home, and Akira decided to window shop at the mall in the station for a bit. Taking his mind off of trouble for a moment, he decided that looking around for gifts was ultimately more important right now.

“What are you looking for?” Akira peaked over his shoulder at the set of big blue eyes staring at him from the depths of his bag.

“Trying to get an idea for a present.” he replied briefly, inspecting items that laid in the front window of a sports shop.

“Oh, you mean for Akechi? Did you decide what you’re doing for his birthday yet?” A brush of whiskers tickled the side of Akira’s face when Morgana draped himself over his shoulder, peering at the stuff on sale.

“Not exactly, but I want to do something that’s memorable- it’s going to be the first birthday that he’s celebrated in a while, and I want to make up for the lost time.”

The soft chuckle caused him to raise one of his brows as he felt Morgana rub his head against his cheek. “Well lucky for you I can help- you see presentation is key, you should know after all. As we are Phantom Thieves.”

“Yeah~” 

Akira reached up and rubbed the cat’s ears, earning himself a loud satisfied pur.

“I wouldn’t worry though, I think whatever you get Akechi, he’ll like it.” The feline affirmed.

The boy shot him a quick look and then directed his stare back at the store front. “What makes you say that?”

“I can just tell- plus he likes you, so naturally anything you do for him he would probably be happy about it.” 

That almost evoked some sort of warm, sugary response from within him, deep in his chest- until he felt a snort puff into the side of his head.

“What?”

“You make doofy faces whenever you think about Akechi- actually you do it when you talk to him too.”

_“No I don’t.”_

_“Yes you do~”_

A groan, that came out more as a whine, trickled out of Akira’s mouth. “Mona-”

“Yes?” 

_Smug as ever._

Akira put on a fake pout and his best pair of “sad eyes” and leaned his face against the furry fiend on his shoulder. Sighing as loud as he could (without being a nuisance in public) he pretended to be upset.

“Fine, fine- I’ll stop,” Mona lightly placed his paw on the top of Akira’s mop of messy hair, consoling him. “Let’s grab some stuff.” he added before plopping down into his bag.

“Right!” Recovering from his act, Akira made his way into the store, determined to find something to assist him in making Goro’s late birthday party one for the books.

  
  


~ ~ ~

Goro grimaced after shifting his shoulders, sensing the tense muscles in his neck and how uncomfortably tight they felt. He stretched his neck a little to the right and shuddered at the sensation of his vertebrae popping, digging his fingers into the base of his neck and massaging it to the best of his ability afterwards.

No sleep once again, and coupled by his neck, shoulders, and back being twisted up into knots, he was feeling a bit more irritable than normal. That was of course only the frosting on the cake though, what really had put him into a foul mood had been the in-person meeting Shido made him go to so they could discuss the “Phantom Thieves”. It had overall been inconclusive as Goro, keeping the same tone as he always does when speaking to Shido or any adult, lied.

_No, he hadn’t seen anything unusual in the Metaverse-_

_Nothing seemed off with Madarame’s shadow, when he had visited his palace-_

_He wasn’t sure how the Phantom Thieves caused a Change of Heart rather than a Mental Shutdown-_

That last one actually wasn’t a lie.

As much as Akira and his posse were amateurs at using their Personas and navigating Palaces, he wasn’t sure how they had managed _that._ He hadn’t stuck around long enough to see their final actions in the Palace- what they did to Madarame’s Shadow that made him break down crying, pleading for forgiveness for his sins on a televised conference, was a mystery to him.

_Frankly, it was a mystery that he couldn’t afford for them to enact again._

Not just for his sake (as Shido was clearly not pleased with him at the moment- and probably thought that he was responsible for the Change of Hearts- or alternatively that he was incompentent), but for theirs too. Specifically Akira’s, because honestly Goro couldn’t bring himself to really care about what happened to the other people acting with his friend ( _nothing new there_ ).

Something in his chest twinged at the thought of these other people, and how close they seemed to be to the quiet boy.

_How did they meet Akira, and why did they feel obliged to stand with him?_

_Is it a debt?_

_Perhaps they were persuaded by Akira? But for what reason in the first place?_

It was frustrating to think about, especially since the brunette was essentially powerless in this situation (not true, but he couldn’t do anything with his power that wouldn’t end up smiting Akira and his groupies on the spot- which was less than ideal). He didn’t know the identities of any of the thieves, other than the cat monster he saw (and then shockingly heard speak in person when he was teasing Akira at Leblanc- he had mentally patted himself on the back for not overly emoting).

A loud resounding sigh left the teenager as he shrugged his shoulders, and then let them droop down. If things were different than they were now, Goro could easily imagine himself and Akira charging into battle together. Obliterating shadows in a gleefully violent show of skill and adrenaline, just like how he liked. _How he now knew that Akira liked it too-_ he had watched and seen his dear friend grin as he plunged his dagger into ambushed shadows. It was enthralling knowing that the black-haired boy had this secret aggressive side to him, it was something that Goro definitely wanted to see more of in the future. 

But he was a solo act- and it would remain that way. It didn’t matter that Akira had a Persona, or that he was the leader of the Phantom Thieves. Those things made Akira dangerous in the eyes of jealous power mongers- and if he was considered a threat, then he would inevitably disappear. Disappear like the many people who Goro had helped make disappear, for no other reason than that they were a nuisance to powerful people. As much as he hated it with his entire being, he knew that he was at risk for also one day ‘vanishing’ without a trace- and nobody would be the wiser (except for Akira who already spent years moping about Goro- _and Goro had done so too about him)._

_That was one thing that he would make sure wouldn’t happen-_

_None of those bastards would be the wiser to Akira’s involvement- he would make sure of it, all while he accomplished his own mission, and got the recognition he deserved._

His fists clenched his shirt, wrinkling his button up. His overcoat was strewn across the side of his bed. His tie hung loosely from its barely formed knot around his neck, and the first few buttons on his shirt were undone- he looked like a mess if the reflection in his mirror was anything to go by. The dark coloring under his eyes and the yellow tinted lighting from his vanity didn’t do any wonders for his skin either. His eyes darting to the small splotches of freckles on his nose and cheeks, causing him to huff, he apparently sweated off the little bit of cover up he wore today too. The layer of sweat that clung to his body felt like a second skin, grimy, sticky, and uncomfortable.

A displeased exhale escaped his nose.

_He hated the summer._

Feeling nasty, both externally and internally, he opted to jump in the shower. Scrubbing his skin raw and red, toweling off, throwing on a pair of boxers and a t-shirt, he flopped down on his bed. Red eyes traced the movement of his ceiling fan, focusing on particularly nothing, as he let his body try to relax into his mattress.

The rest of the night he failed to sleep soundly- again. A deep yearning, almost like hunger, roiled inside of him. An ache so profound that he felt as if his chest would collapse from the invisible pressure that became increasingly prevalent inside of his ribcage. He tried to appease the voracious emptiness by burrowing his head under his pillows and wrapping himself up in his blankets, but with how hot it was already it did nothing but make him feel unbearably warm. After kicking off his sheets, and throwing his pillows off the side of his mattress he laid face down, his eye lids clenched tightly shut. His body was still physically hurting, and his brain still was rolling through the events of the past few days.

If it hadn’t been some ungodly hour of the night, he would have texted Akira to see if he was up- to try to get the troubling thoughts to leave his head. Thinking of Akira though made the aching worse, even more so when he remembered the hug that they shared when they had bumped into each other at the station. 

His arms wrapped around himself as he felt the hunger grow, and squeezed hard.

_It never usually was this bad~_

He tried his best to rest, using the phantom feelings of the weight that were at the edges of his memory from the embrace that he had shared with the frizzy haired boy. Anything to try easing the biting pain. Arms squeezed himself harder, he tucked his legs up into his stomach, folding himself up into a ball. The yawning emptiness caused him to shiver.

_Comfort wouldn’t be gracing him tonight._

~ ~ ~

The ache didn’t go away, but it did lessen when he was out and about. It seemed to only be bothersome and all consuming when he was alone, with just himself, his thoughts, and the loud snarling within his subconscious. He went to school today, which felt a bit odd- a break from the usual actually. He was a celebrity detective (aka secret assassin) first, and then a student second most days. Honestly, the only reason he was attending today was so he could skip out on more school the next couple days.

Goro’s manager had booked him to make a TV appearance, and he would be on set for the next two days. When he had received that phone call (ironically shortly after he left his meeting with Shido) he could feel his irritation bubble up. Dealing with the people who ran the TV sets had been stressful the first few times he had made an appearance on the news and talk shows. Admittedly he was surprised to have the rumors confirmed about gross executives trying to take advantage of actors- he managed to get out of what could have been a dangerous situation because of his overzealous manager (who was eager to introduce him to everybody in the production crew and had dragged him away- thank god). 

The brunette had decided from that point on that if he ever was alone in a room with the disgusting old man again, who had tried to put his dirty mitts on him, that he wouldn’t hesitate to do something drastic. He felt like he was entirely justified in feeling that way- the producer was a known predator and Goro had been merely 16. Afterwards, one of the other guests, who was his senior by several years, told him to watch out for the man, and to avoid him when possible. The latent fear and more prominently venomous anger flowed from her expression. If he had been an aspiring actor, or TV talent, who needed the praise and approval of the producers and directors on the sets, perhaps he would have been more wary. It was a benefit of working with Shido- that he didn’t need to form relations with these people, the bald shithead had already done that for him.

So the boy made himself scarce unless he was needed to make an appearance.

Shido was the reason why he was appearing on “Good Morning Japan!” in the first place. The man easily could pull strings and arrange things like that on demand with his connections to giant networks. Now, as much as Goro seethed thinking about his soon-to-be appearance, the boy was going to go ahead and talk explicitly about the Phantom Thieves. He was to denounce them, claim them to be criminals, and try to provoke them into revealing themselves.

Goro liked to think that Akira was smarter than that though- that the thief wouldn’t take the bait that Goro was being made to cast out. Maybe if Goro was lucky, he wouldn’t even see the segment. (Though he had doubts about that. Akira had jokingly sent him clips of his TV appearances asking him about it over text a while ago). 

If Akira didn’t have any sense, he would have been caught by now- right?

But he had been, by Goro. 

The thief just didn’t know that yet.

A sigh left the boy, as he scribbled down some notes from the lecture he was attending, trying to think about anything that wasn’t Phantom Thieves related. The amount of eyes that were on him made his already tingling skin, itchy. Sometimes he would catch the stare of the girl who sat next to him, and would shoot her a forced smile (sweet and plastic). Thankfully that was enough to fluster her to get her to stop her incessant staring, but the people behind him were a different story. It was days like this that he was glad that his practiced pleasant attitude was for the most part automatic- if it hadn’t he might have told some of his classmates off in a not so friendly way and ruined the illusion of his good nature by now. 

The spiteful part of him reveled in the way that the other honor students would give him the side eye, jealous of his popularity. However, the piece of Goro that was used to isolation and distrusted others vehemently scowled whenever a pack of fans ran up to him (on the inside though, he always was smiles and polite conversation in person), vying for his attention. Today was especially trying for him though, especially when someone had tapped him on the shoulder to talk to him. He felt like he had been burned and electrocuted and instantly wanted to snap at the offender, to curse them, to tell them to leave him the hell alone. 

His pain flared up again after that and it made him want to curl up and disappear, as the popping pain that danced along his skin buzzed and stung. Later in the day he managed to hole himself up in a bathroom stall and spent a few minutes clawing at his arms, dragging blunt nails over his skin, leaving raised white trails in their wake. The marks eventually turned red and angry looking, as if he had been attacked by an animal rather than scratching at himself. His hands shook as he panted, the pain dulling to a simmer as he was now more aware of the ugly marks he had marred his arms with.

To be honest, he wasn’t sure how he was supposed to walk out of school with the raised welt like scratches on his arms. His summer uniform’s short sleeves did little to hide them, and he didn’t have his overcoat with him. Thankfully the school day was about over, but he would have to wait it out in the restroom for about another half hour until he would be clear to sneak away, hopefully unnoticed and unbothered.

Quickly he plucked his phone from his pant’s pocket and opened the lock screen. Out of habit he checked his messages, and for the first time today genuinely grinned when he saw a notification next to Akira’s message log. Without hesitation he pressed on it.

_‘Are you free tonight?’_

Technically no- he should go home and rest up for his appearance tomorrow on TV. But, after feeling on edge all day, and like his insides were trying to do their best to dissolve themselves, he decided _fuck it._

_‘Yes.’_

A set of ellipses quickly popped up on his screen within a few seconds, as the other teen typed out a reply.

_‘Come to Leblanc. Making dinner :D’_

_‘Be there soon.’_

He turned off his phone, letting his arms hang down loose, feeling a bit calmer than before. A small part of him felt giddy, and he wasn’t sure why, but he relished in it allowing himself some comfort finally. Time moved slowly as he counted the minutes until school was dismissed.

~ ~ ~

Humming some nonsensical tune (one that he always seemed to default to) while he stirred the contents of the pot around, making sure that nothing burned, Akira was enjoying himself. Recently due to his busy schedule he hadn’t had the time to go ahead and cook food, which was something that he missed doing. It was one of the few things that sparked a warm content feeling in his bones, reminding him of simpler days and shared meals with his mother. Doing it now, to share with Goro nonetheless, made his heart tingle with something sweet and gentle. Just like when he had first shared bentos with him back in middle school.

His glasses, which were resting on the counter (because they fogged up from the heat of the food), shifted slightly as Morgana jumped up and landed next to them. The feline observed him, interested in the process.

“Are you making curry like Sojiro showed you?” he asked, his ears pricked up.

“Yeah, thought it’d be nice to make some and share.” he mumbled, twisting his hair bashfully with one hand.

The audible sigh that came from Morgana was uncalled for in his opinion.

“If you’re going to be hanging out with Akechi I’m going out.” the cat grumbled, jumping down and landing gracefully. He made a beeline for upstairs, where he knew there was an open window for him to leave through.

“Alright, I’ll save you some curry for later.” He waved to the small retreating form.

And like that, he was alone. Sojiro had closed up early today, needing to run some errands (or go visit the mysterious woman that he keeps talking to on the phone?), Morgana left, and now it was just him, the pot of curry he was trying to perfect, and the low murmuring of the TV. It was peaceful, but he couldn’t help but feel like there was too much unoccupied space around him, making the comforting mood tinged with the tiniest bit of lonesomeness. 

_It was bittersweet-_

_Blissful with a lingering reminder of the past- of what used to be._

He was snapped out of it by the familiar bell chime on the front door, and the clacking of shoes on the wood floor. A grin prepared itself on his face as he took his attention away from the curry pot, making eye contact with two red irises.

“Evenin’ Goro!” he greeted. Quickly he wiped his hands off on his apron and went to the bar counter to greet the boy, gesturing for him to sit. 

“Good evening, Akira.” The detective took a seat at his usual spot at the counter. “Thank you for inviting me over- I’ve been having a rather trying day, so this can be sort of a ‘pick-me-up’.”

“Oh?” Akira’s brow rose, curious about what the brunette meant. His eyes caught the furrow of Goro’s brow, and the tense energy that radiated off of his shoulders. Looking to his hands which were folded together, fingers tightly wound with each other, Akira was surprised to see faint red impressions decorating the other boy’s arms. “Did something scratch you?” he prodded.

The brunette’s eyes looked away for a moment, but then reconnected with the silver irises that were inspecting him. He briefly observed the backs of his arms and then clicked his tongue. “Ah, don’t worry about that, I had dry skin and scratched at it. I didn’t realize that it had become raised until I was leaving class.”

The smile Akira received was like cake frosting, a bit too thick and sugary for his taste. A frown pulled at the edges of his mouth, but he nodded anyway. He knew that Goro was lying, the scratch marks were too long and too prominent to merely be just an itch. It looked like something had tried to claw at him, aiming to rip and tear his skin open. Thinking about it made Akira’s chest tight.

“If you say so… Do you want some coffee? I can make us some.”

The slight slumping of the detective’s shoulders told him that his suspicion was right, but he was also glad to see some of the pent up stress leave his friend’s form.

“Sure, that sounds lovely.” 

After finishing off the curry, serving it up with rice, and pouring them both mugs of coffee, Akira took his place in the space next to Goro. The chit chat was sparse between them as they enjoyed their food, the detective’s mood seemed diluted in the few words they did exchange. It was concerning really, he wanted to know what was wrong.

Gently he placed his hand on the other boy’s shoulder and felt the muscle beneath his palm jump and twitch in surprise. Goro looked at him, his eyes sharp as always, as if he was ready to fight at any given notice. Akira tilted his head, unsure what to make of the other boy’s behavior.

“Goro?” his voice laced with unspoken questions.

Those crimson eyes held his gaze, eventually losing their intensity. He could feel the tense cord of muscle in Goro’s bicep relax under his grip, and his expression seemed to grow sober. 

Without speaking, the detective reached his own hand out and placed it on top of Akira’s, gripping it in a firm but careful clasp. Fingers ducking in and interlacing with his own, until eventually he moved their connected hands off of his arm and onto the counter. The dark haired boy gave a reassuring squeeze to the palm within his own, receiving one back in response.

Something visceral and innate surged in his veins, telling him to continue to hold Goro’s hand, and to not let go. Akira didn’t mind being a source of comfort, of safety- he knew that he craved the same thing deep down. Everyone did.

_But it was different with Akechi Goro. It always was. Back then and now._

He didn’t feel this sort of way towards his other friends, as close as they were to each other. Gladly he had put himself out there for them, to make sure that they were okay and that they felt supported- but around them he never felt this gut wrenching feeling that he couldn’t decide hurt or was amazing.

_His heart felt sick, and it felt so good._

_He just hoped that Goro felt the same way about him._

Trembling fingers clutched tighter at Akira’s, as if they wanted to hold more. _That they needed to_. The display was both incredibly endearing and upsetting, and Akira couldn’t stand it anymore.

So he leaned his shoulder heavily into the body next to him. He could feel the deep breath that was trapped in the other teen’s body leave him in a silent gasp, as if some great pressure had been lifted from his chest. And then Goro’s own weight and warmth pushed back into his shoulder and Akira’s brain felt fuzzy. His last coherent thought was done in when a head full of thick chestnut locks fell upon his shoulder, pressing into it and resting there, hiding the owner’s face underneath.

_“Thank you.”_

It was muttered into his shirt, the vibrations tickling his skin through the fabric. 

_“Yeah.”_

His voice barely made it out, wobbling with some sort of emotion. He had to prevent himself from resting his head on top of Goro’s, as the desire to envelope him in a full body wrap and hug blazed desperately in his soul.

Their tender moment lasted for a while, as Akira concentrated on the sound of Goro breathing (quick short puffs of air which eventually molded into slow deep draws of oxygen) and the slight pulse he could feel in the other boy’s hand. It made him aware of how incredibly intimate this was, which made the greedy part of his psyche pur with pleasure. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t enjoying himself. But it came to an end- _all too soon in his opinion-_ Goro retracted himself from the embrace, still holding his hand for a bit, until he relinquished his grip on it, receding his own hands back into his lap. 

“I’m sorry,” he began, his crimson eyes looking down, “I didn’t mean to act…”. Conflict was apparent in his face, as he was unsure how to word his actions.

“Don’t be.” Akira interjected, lighting bumping shoulders with Goro, a small smile flitting across his face as he did so. “I’m not,”

~ ~ ~

Goro left Leblanc that night, feeling much better than he had previously. His body no longer cried out in numbing pain, but instead felt light and electric. His brain relished in the memory of Akira crushed against his side, the scent of coffee mixing in with his tame cologne made him feel airy, and his stomach was full of homemade curry (which he had eaten quickly). It had felt perfect- and he hated it.

As he slept soundly for the first time in weeks in his apartment that night, he frustratingly dreamt of silver eyes not trapped behind fake glasses, wild unkempt black hair tangled in between his fingers, and the soft caress of Akira’s hands on his arms which moved up to cupping his face. It was so disgustingly gentle and kind. It made him feel fragile- but he couldn’t afford to lose his edge to this. Not when he was within sprinting distance of the finish line of his plan.

_“Damnit-”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoop next update soon!


	6. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this took so long to get out- August has been a rough month for me writing wise!

Akira had a dream that night. It unfortunately had nothing to do with the events preceding his sleep (which would have been a hundred times better in Akira’s opinion- even if he was confused about his overall feelings and relation to Goro now-  _ yay~ _ .) His eyes blinked open to royal blue and iron chains, causing him to nearly groan at the unwelcomed sight. It seemed like Igor was going to grace him with his wise words-  _ again. _

“ _ Trickster.” _

Onyx irises flicked over to the pristine office desk and chair in the middle of the room, through the bars of his cell.  _ “Igor.” _ He approached the jail’s door in his room, taking a metal beam in each of his hands as he waited for the strange man to continue speaking.

He nearly jumped back when a rod slammed harshly against the front of his cell door, jolting him a little in the process. The shockwave bouncing around in his bones.

“Watch your tone inmate!” Caroline’s voice was shrill and high pitched as ever, as she scolded him. 

`Personally he felt as if that was extremely undeserved- even if he had sounded a bit rude in his greeting. If he was annoyed because he unexpectedly was summoned here, why should he put on false airs of politeness? But even the more rational twin, Justine, didn’t move to say anything about her brash sibling- to say he was feeling a bit attacked was understated as she smirked at his small stumble, golden eyes flashing something mischievous. 

“Congratulations on another job well done, Trickster. You and your compatriots have taken another step towards completing your rehabilitation-”

The inmate nodded in agreement, shooting the twins a competitive look. About time he got a little recognition for his hard work. (Though he did see both of them pout from the corner of his eye when he returned his attention back to the man at the desk.)

“However, be warned, danger lies closer than you can anticipate. Letting your guard down now would be most unwise when you have many eyes watching you, waiting for their own opportunity to intervene in this unfair game.”

_ Hmmm… _

Can’t say that anything that Igor just said made him feel any sort of positivity.

“Do you mean the other persona user? The one that Madarame’s shadow mentioned...” An inquisitive look rested on his face as he and Igor shared a moment of silence with each other. The tension was palpable. 

“This other persona user’s intentions are unknown to me, if they even exist that is. My own knowledge reaches to the confines of this room and you, anything else is a mystery to me- however much I wish to guard you against unknown forces.” The gravelly grain of Igor’s statement made a shiver of anxiety dance down Akira’s spine. “Be cautious of those around you Trickster, and only trust those who you have bonds with as they foster your growth and power.”

“What about our current situation?” Akira’s question sounded small as the long nosed man hummed behind his hands. He had to know- they were getting nowhere with their investigation at the moment.

“All I can do is advise you to look for answers not as a normal human would- as you are a Trickster. Use your experiences as a Phantom Thief to your advantage when facing adversity, and you will find the answers you seek.”

_ That was vague as hell, how was that supposed to be useful words of wisdom!? _

Mouth opening to ask another question, hoping for any semblance of clarification, Akira was cut off.

“May you find the answer you are looking for. Until next time, Trickster.”

The words that were on his tongue died in his mouth as he sat up suddenly, awake, sweating in his bed in Leblanc. He cursed quietly to himself, disappointed in the ambiguous words that Igor had given him. Only time, some coffee, and discussion would help him make sense of what the magical man had been trying to hint at.

“Akira? Are you okay, you seemed spooked.” A tired cat mewed sleepily. Morgana swiped at his whiskers as he blinked the tiredness from his eyes, curled up tightly, pressed against Akira’s side in a neat little ball.

“I’m fine. Just a weird dream.” He gave the feline a few soothing pets on the head, earning himself content purring, before he threw his legs off the side of his bed. “Well I’m not going back to sleep-” A defeated sigh left him.

Foolish of him for assuming he was going to sleep soundly tonight.

“Then I’ll get up too!” A long stretch and a big yawn and Morgana plunked down onto the wooden floor next to his feet. “Remember we’re going to the TV station today for your social studies trip.” Big blue eyes blinked at him expectantly. The bed-headed boy nodded and bent down to scoop the cat up as he made his way down stairs, the need to consume caffeine was his greatest concern at the moment.

He’d nearly forgotten about the trip if he was being honest. Good thing that Mona actually paid attention in class when he was daydreaming about whatever the hell was stuck in his head at the moment. Having a cat secretary (as much as he was upset that Morgana forced him to go to sleep early) had its perks.

~ ~ ~

“Earth to Akira~”

“He’s totally spacing Ann, he’s not going to hear ya’.”

“Morgana, wake him up. He’s got to help us move cables.”

“Alright!”

A quick succession of light taps, from soft little cat paws lightly touched Akira’s nose. It twitched suddenly, tickled, and he blinked his eyes rapidly. Reaching to rub the itch out of it.

“Yes?” he asked, eyes still adjusting to the room around him. Once the light stopped being so blurred and harsh, he was able to make out his two blonde friends staring at him expectantly.

“How’s the space station doing dude?” A cheesy smirk lifted at the corner of Ryuji’s mouth.

“Pretty good, the engineers replaced the satellite batteries finally.”

The eye roll that Ann gave them made him snicker, as he followed the two of them to the thick cords of cables. Setting Morgana’s bag to the side, Akira helped move the tangles of cables to the otherside of the TV set, where they would be out of the way and not a tripping hazard. So far on their social studies trip nothing of significance, interest, or excitement happened. They were made to follow around a PA who explained in the most basic, generic way possible, what happens on TV sets and why. To be honest, it made his already waning attention span diminish in its entirety. Plus, if he was being honest, a large part of his brain refused to move on from what happened last night. Reruns of his memories were playing in his head. Igor’s unhelpful words of advice had left him antsy and on edge, like he was expecting to be ambushed any second by some nefarious monster. In addition to that, phantom feelings of Goro’s palm wrapped in his own, and the warmth of him pressed into him haunted his thoughts. 

Was he feeling a bit warm and fuzzy- yes.

Was he also feeling increasingly confused and unsure of himself, with a lovely pinch of paranoia to top it off- also yes.

“Did you catch any of the tour, Akira?” Ann asked, throwing the last of the chords from her arms on top of the growing pile on the ground.

The boy gave her a closed lipped smile and shrugged. Her groan that followed that was fair.

_ Perhaps he missed the last couple hours of conversation- _

“I’m jealous actually,” she mumbled under her breath. “They just explained things that we all already knew.” An annoyed whoosh of air left her as she pouted, Ryuji nodded in agreement.

After taking a minute to collect themselves, stretching out their arms and dusting off, curious brown eyes connected with Akira’s, catching his gaze. “Hey, since Miss Prez can’t bust our asses right now, want to talk about- ya’ know…” The way Ryuji had glanced around, paranoid, was understandable. 

Even though in theory, Niijima Makoto should be at Shujin Academy, miles away from the movie set, there was always the off chance that she would walk around the corner (as improbable as that was). Akira took comfort in the fact that he wasn’t the only person in their group who was jumping at his own shadow, scared that he would come face-to-face with laser red eyes (he couldn’t help but think of how Igor’s words eerily matched the girl’s behavior). 

“Not here.” His own eyes darted to the hallway, motioning for the group to leave with him. Akira went over to his bag and scooped it up (the cat inside grumbled in surprise- apparently he was sleeping again) and then headed over to the hallway with his two friends.

The tiled hallway was noticeably more quiet, when they walked into it. The sounds of their footsteps seemed to echo off the nearby walls. If anyone else were to approach them, they would hear them from a good distance.

“So- business?” Akira mumbled, turning back to Ann and Ryuji after taking another glance at the other end of the hall. It seemed safe enough at the moment- and frankly would be one of their only safe moments moving forward if Niijima’s surveillance of them became tighter than it already was.

~ ~ ~

Wearing contacts sucked, or so Goro had determined since the first time his manager had pushed him to wear them for TV. He typically was given light brown colored contacts, or sometimes gray ones as they lightened the color of his irises. As always he was made to put them on whenever he was going to appear on a talk show or in an interview on some sort of prominent news channel. The large, soft doe-eyed look was definitely not something he ever imagined himself wearing- at least not a few years ago. Now though he gladly utilized his more “cute” (part of Goro’s soul cringed at the word choice-) traits to get what he wanted from people. However, the small bits of plastic in his eyes itched and burned, and he hated them- however, it was all to keep up the proper appearances and facades, so he dealt with it (although reluctantly).

Currently, he had to be the Detective Prince for the next couple of hours until he was eventually dismissed from set and told to go home. Friendly behavior, wide neat smiles, and false niceties were all necessary to show off around the production crew. They, like the general public and his fan base, had to view him through rose colored glasses. Akechi Goro, the second Detective Prince, was a polite young man, with a burning passion for justice and to serve his country- his mannerisms equally as charming as his handsome well-groomed appearance. And so no matter what the Detective Prince had to remain in tact while he was at this set- even though in the back of his head he could feel something nasty swirling about- as it usually did.

The dark whispers were muted today, they were still there but not as audible. After what had occurred last night, he can clearly say that every time he devotes more than a second of thought to it he gets warm in the face. Admittedly, it was a moment of weakness for him, one that he would have never usually indulged in- but circumstances were different now. They were different because of Kurusu Akira, and that made part of his soul burn (he couldn’t tell if it hurt, or was something else-). The boy had always been an enigma in Goro’s pathetic existence.

He remembered the first time he ever set eyes on Akira that he had initially thought that the boy looked meek. Akira was a small kid for their age at the time, probably not having a growth spurt until he hit puberty in his teenage years. His hair was all messy sheep-like curls that hung over his eyes, which weren’t framed by blocky glasses at that point. But Goro remembers distinctly the feeling he got when he saw the mophead for the first time the most. Unlike every other person he met after his mother died, who he felt indifference and distaste towards, Akira was the first person he remembered seeing and feeling something different. It wasn’t inherently a positive feeling, because he hadn’t known him yet, but a strange misty one. As if he was observing him from afar, and wasn’t in front of him reciting a greeting he was forced to say by his Great Aunt. 

He supposed it was something akin to nostalgia, or deja vu, regardless of never meeting Akira before at that point. Something innate told him that he did know the boy in that moment, or that he was meant to know him-  _ or something else as contrived and bullshit as fate _ . Which is the reason why Goro had decided to entertain the idea of being friendly to him in the first place-  _ and the rest was history. _

Goro didn't have a lot of experience with making friends- not then, and not even now. His life had been full of conditional deals and relations. But he knew that what he had back then with Akira was genuine. No matter what he said, or told him the boy didn’t leave him. He sincerely wanted to be around Goro- and made him feel fragile to acknowledge it- especially now. Relationships could easily be exploited or manipulated- he’d seen it plenty of times. But he knew that what he had with Akira wasn’t like that. It wasn’t a business contract, contingent on results or numbers. It was a silent promise- what was contained in that promise exactly though he wasn’t sure. The agreement was wordless and therefore he couldn’t explain it in the detail he wished he could- all he knew that it was there, unsaid, unspoken, and it was a comfort.

_ A comfort that was getting to his head right now. _

_ Unspoken words were one of the few things protecting him- and the consistent threat of them being said aloud hung over him. _

He was fine. It didn’t matter that he had incredibly vivid and tortuously sweet dreams last night. Instead, he settled on trying to vanquish the images of carding his hands through black curls- and of lithe fingertips dragging along the sides of his jawbone making his skin tingle- and the overwhelmingly close proximity and warmth of an intimate embrace. 

Forcibly he cleared his throat.

It was a dream anyway, not like that would happen in real life any time soon. Goro had killed people, had driven them insane, and was still on call to do so by his megalomaniac father. He didn’t have time to entertain anything outside of his current plan, and certainly couldn’t get further involved with Akira. Yesterday would be the exception, and the only exception. He could be content with a casual friendship ( _ even if he could taste a disgusting bitterness in the back of his throat at the notion).  _

He could turn this around. All he had to do was show that he wasn’t interested in anything else than being friends...

“Akechi-kun!”

A quick glance over his shoulder, and he confirmed that it was his manager who had called for him. The ever bright smile and overly excited attitude was irritating, but nothing new. Goro was used to this man’s antics by now- and as annoying as he was, he did his job well.

“Takagi-san.” he greeted. The man approached him and stood by his side while he presented a typed manuscript to him.

“We just got the script for tomorrow’s interview. If you could look over it tonight and practice a bit for it that would be good, otherwise you can clean up and head home for the day.” Mr. Takagi was young compared to most of the people that were connected to Shido. At most he was in his early thirties, probably in his mid-to-late twenties. He was charismatic in his own way, some people liked that peppy attitude- too bad Goro wasn’t most people. 

“They’re done taking photographs?” the brunette asked. While he wasn’t the biggest fan of his manager, he was always civil- regardless of the nasty part of his mind directing and hissing insults quietly at the man.

“Yep, they just needed a few headshots.” The man confirmed with a bright smile, handing over the papers to Goro. 

“I think I’ll start heading out then, thank you for your hard work Takagi-san.” he gave him a curt bow, which was quickly returned to him by his manager.

“You as well, Akechi-kun. I’ll see you tomorrow on set!” 

Goro made it his prerogative to get away from the break room he was sitting in as fast as he could after his manager walked out the door, and out of his sight. He would stop by his dressing room, take out his contacts (which were burning a lot more than usual today), wipe off the heavy TV makeup (which hung heavily on his face), reapply concealer to hide his eye bags (because some illusion is necessary), and then jump on the nearest train back to Kichijoji. Maybe if he was lucky he could pretend that he didn’t have to come back here again tomorrow for fifteen minutes when he got home, before ultimately diving into homework and scanning over the interview questions for the rest of the evening later on.

Impatiently, he waited for a few moments, letting the sound of his manager’s footsteps disappear into the distance before getting up and leaving the room, papers neatly packed into his briefcase. With quick strides, he kept his head down as he hurriedly paced down the hall, trying to avoid catching any unwanted attention. There seemed to be more people here than usual today, mostly students if the uniforms were anything to go by. Shujin Academy uniforms on top of that. Most likely they were here on a tour for school, his own class did something similar last year. He didn’t go because he was busy with  _ business- like he usually was. _

Not so soft whispering and hushed voices caught his attention as he neared the corner in the hall. There were people there for sure, several of them from what he could make out. Automatically he softened his steps, something he picked up from years of prowling around the Metaverse, stalking shadows in a silent gait. He could feel the hair on the back of his neck prickle as he approached the bend, making sure to keep himself hidden as he did so, listening intently to the conversation.

“-But there’s no hit on the Principal’s name when we put it into the Nav.” 

Judging from the sound, it was a teenage boy, probably a part of the school group here.

“Yeah, but maybe we can talk to his shadow in Mementos and get information from him. Like when Nanakohara’s shadow told us about Madarame.” 

That time it was a girl speaking.

_ Oh? _

It didn’t take a lot to put what they were talking about together- and who was probably there around the corner. Still it was surprising to hear that they originally caught whiff of Madarame’s wrong doings in the Metaverse first, rather than from rumors online, or even bad press in the tabloids. However he felt more frustrated than anything else at the moment.

_ Of course he would run into Akira’s gang here- it figures that they would be touring in the same studio he was filming at right now.  _

As it stands there are several reasons he doesn’t want to face them all at the same time.

“Interrogating his shadow may be a good start, but we only got more information from Nanakohara when we met him in person.” 

There’s Akira, he could recognize his voice instantly from the others. Tingles in his glove covered hands prickled at his skin, and he nearly growled, hating how pathetic he felt. Skin yearning for the friendly and inviting touch it had happily embraced yesterday night. Too bad he no longer can indulge in it.

“Agreed. There’s no telling how much information the shadow might actually tell us. We’ll need to gather evidence in the real world too in order to solidly determine his motive for trying to identify the Phantom Thieves.”

Ah- and there’s the talking cat. Good to know that the Phantom Thieves involve animals in their scheming as well.

“What about Niijima?” 

Goro’s ears pricked up when he heard the name. Niijima, like Sae Nijima?

Wait, no- 

Sae had a younger sister, Makoto. She went to Shujin too, if he remembered correctly. Not exactly the warmest person he ever met, and just like Sae she had a set of piercing, accusatory eyes to match that personality. Goro had decided early on that he didn’t particularly like Makoto- she fit the mold of the “rule following good girl” too much in his opinion. Doing things by the book wasn’t exactly a part of his agenda currently, and he couldn’t help but direct his distaste towards the girl and others like her. Willing to go with the flow and listen to whatever superior is barking orders at them- it was pitiful.

**_Hypocrite!_ **

_ It was snarled at him from the corner of his mind- and for a second he could feel the always present simmering rage gurgle from the depths. _

So what- he wasn’t exactly his own biggest fan either. He didn’t need his fucking Persona to remind him of that- or that’s what he was telling himself as he mentally sparred with the angry being in his subconscious. 

“Maybe she could help us-” Hearing that come out of Akira’s mouth definitely piqued his interest, especially when his comment garned gasps and questions of ‘what’ and ‘why’ from the others. “We can’t approach this like things are normal- Niijima-san knows that something is up with us.”

“Which is why we shouldn’t mess with her!”

“Ryuji’s right, Akira. It seems like a bad move- plus she’s totally loyal to  Kobayakawa. There’s no way she would help us.”

“Which is exactly why we should ask her-”

_ So he was into risky gambits then- makes sense.  _

Akira always did have an air of quiet mischief around him, especially in the sly smiles that he tried to hide from others.

“Principal Kobayakawa is using his authority to make Niijima spy on us. He’s depending on a student to sniff us out, because if he did it himself it’d be too obvious that someone is trying to sniff out the Phantom Thieves’ trail.”

“Well he’s doing a shit job at being sneaky.” The other boy grumbled.

“However since he doesn’t have a palace- his motivation to catch us probably isn’t self-motivated but rather caused by something else that’s external.”

“You’re suggesting that someone is forcing the Principal to figure out who we are?” An equally panicked and curious meow failed to whisper quietly to Akira.

That increasingly obnoxious voice, who also happened to be the loudest out of the group, pitched in. “Who would do that though? And better question why? Kamoshida and Madarame were both pieces of shit who hurt and abused people- would someone really be upset that we exposed them-” 

“You’re forgetting about what Madarame’s shadow said. He saw another Persona user in his palace-”

_ Oh- _

_ They were talking about him. That damn old man ratted him out from the sounds of it. Maybe he should intervene before they can ruminate on that too much. _

“Do you think that the other Persona user could be the one after our identities?” The girl’s voice got quiet toward the end of her question, obviously spooked by the notion. Unfortunately for all of them, Goro already knew who the Phantom Thieves were- due to their lack of self awareness. It’s a miracle that Makoto hadn’t already reported them to their principal if they were this lackadaisical about safeguarding their thief gig. 

“I don’t know, but it’s a possibility.”

_ They are so loud! _

Before he could let them continue their team meeting, he removed himself from the wall he had pressed up against, and purposely made his footsteps audible and noticeably loud as he traveled the rest of the way to the intersection in the hallway. Whispers died down, and shushing ensued for a second as the group settled into a casual quiet. Goro started humming a nonsensical tune with no real rhythm or melody in order to fill the silence, and to appear as if he hadn’t been eavesdropping on a majority of their talk. Rounding the corner, he looked up and blinked in faux-shock, instantly seeing Akira, and the faces of the other two thieves, who were all staring at him.

~ ~ ~

_ “Akira?” _

Chestnut hair, rigid posture and stance, neat overcoat and slacks, leather gloves, and inquisitive eyes (which were a different color than usual)- it could only be the local celebrity detective.

“Goro!” Silver eyes crinkled as he grinned and waved at his friend. 

As the brunette walked over, Akira could see him eyeing Ann and Ryuji, something akin to curiosity in his gaze. He ignored it as he gave Goro a friendly bump with his shoulder, which didn’t seem to settle the tension that was in the boy’s muscles.

_ Strange. _

However the sigh he heard from Morgana, as the cat dived back into the depths of his book bag nearly made him snort out loud.  _ Dramatic cat. _

“You know this guy?”

He turned to see Ryuji looking over Goro and his attire, and Ann who seemed surprised more than anything. It was fairly obvious to Akira at that point that one of them knew about the Detective Prince, and one did not.

“Ah, right- I’m Akechi Goro. Nice to meet you both!”

The smile Goro put on was fake and overly honeyed, but Akira couldn’t really complain. He knew that it was the other boy’s default around people he didn’t know, even though Akira really wanted him and his other friends to get along. The two blondes standing nearby didn’t seem to notice thankfully as they introduced themselves back.

“Are you filming?” he asked, after the exchange of names ended.

“No, I just finished up for the day. I was actually going to leave, but I’m going to wipe this pancake makeup off first.” The chuckle that followed, left Goro’s mouth in an awkwardly forced way, as he reached his hand up to his face and pointed at it.

It was a lot more than he usually wore on any other day. The light freckles on the bridge of his nose were nonexistent under the heavy foundation, and his eyes were outlined in a soft brown powder of some type, making them appear larger than they actually were. Very doll-like compared to how he usually looked when he came into Leblanc in his casual attire, or clothes from work or school.

“Do you want to come with us to Dome Town after?” Ann butted in, “We’re going to grab some food over there before heading home for the day!” Her tone was light and friendly.

Akira caught Goro looking at him from the corner of his eye, as if he was conflicted on his answer. Giving him his best pair of ‘subtle puppy dog eyes’ he could, he smirked when he saw the detective’s resolve crumble.

_ “If you insist~” _

~ ~ ~

_ This was a bad idea. _

He should have declined the offer to hang out with the Phantom Thieves outright, now he was sitting in a diner eating a late lunch with the very people he was supposed to sniff out for Shido. Takamaki was arguing across the table with Sakamoto, while the both of them sipped on milkshakes (which everyone ended up getting) . It was about something trivial and stupid, like if sweets were better than savory food. He could care less ( _ even if Takamaki was absolutely right) _ . However, the pancakes he had ordered were fantastic and if there was anything good about this outing, it was that. 

Even Akira was acting frustrating the entire trip. 

At first it was nothing- the boy sat quietly, listening and observing the conversation at the table, giving short responses or quips every now and then.

Perfectly harmless behavior.

That was until something softly bumped against his leg. He brushed it off as an accident, until it happened again. It was much more obvious this time as he felt the offending foot brush against the side of his calf, trailing down to his ankle. Goro’s eyes snapped to the grinning beast across from him, who was attempting to conceal his expression behind his obnoxious fake glasses. Returning the smile, teeth gleaming, Goro then hooked his own foot around the back of Akira’s heel and yanked down. The thud of a loose shoe hitting the ground brought the brunette immense joy, especially with the accompanying silent gasp that left Akira as he fumbled around blindly for it under the table.

Peace was present for approximately two minutes after that. The black haired boy, who had finally managed to wrangle his shoe back on, leveled a steely glare at Goro. The faintest smirk was there- obviously he was planning something.

_ It was perplexing. _

_ How was Akira, empathetic and playful in nature, the same thief he saw ripping through the Metaverse? _

_ Maybe he could get Akira to tell him about the Phantom Thieves? _

“Hey Ryuji,” Silver eyes glanced at Goro briefly before switching over to the punkish boy sitting next to him. He plucked a cherry off the top of his shake and dangled it from its stem. “Can you tie a cherry stem in a knot?”

“What- like with my mouth?” Sakamoto cocked his head to the side, obviously the innuendo flying over his head.

Takamaki on the other hand was giving Akira an incredulous look, “Seriously?”

The boy nodded, “Uh huh.”

Taking a maraschino cherry from her own milkshake she popped it in her mouth, and after swishing it around for a second, she picked the stem neatly from between her teeth and set it down on the edge of her plate. It was tied in a neat knot- impressive considering how fast she did it. Sakamoto leered at her, and then suddenly the puzzle pieces seemed to line up for him, causing him to snort out loud.

“Oh wow.”

Akira hummed, and then threw the cherry he was holding into his mouth. Equally as fast he poked his tongue out, and there the red stem sat on top, tied in a tight pristine knot. The cheeky bastard looked him dead in the eyes as he removed the stem from his mouth, and Goro could feel the blood rush in his ears.

_ No dirty thoughts- _

_ Friends don’t have impure thoughts about their other friends- _

_ And that’s what they were- friends. _

_ Just friends... _

In an act of defiance, he grabbed the cherry off of his own drink and while maintaining eye contact with the dark haired boy across from him, and placed it in his mouth. Chewing the cherry first, and then rolling it around in his mouth, catching the thin stem between his teeth. Folding the ends in on itself and pulling it through he picked the stringy stem from his teeth and put it on his plate. It wasn’t the best knot, but still a somewhat formed tie regardless. However, the look that Akira was shooting him over the top of his glasses made him want to explode- and he wasn’t sure if it was because of competitive anger or something more depraved.

~ ~ ~

The rest of their lunch went by rather uneventfully, he made small talk with the other two thieves, pretending not to hear the cat in Akira’s bag ask for table scraps time-to-time. Takamaki was an aspiring model, while Sakamoto was a former student athlete. Just normal students on a surface level. Not people he would suspect to be persona users.  _ That is if they hadn’t had any connection to the previous Change of Heart cases- and if he hadn’t seen them running around in the Metaverse- and if they hadn’t been discussing their plans out loud, in public _ .

From the sounds of the conversation he eavesdropped on, they already were in the hot seat. Being pursued by the younger Niijima sister and their school’s principal, maybe having days at most, until they were discovered. He of course already knew why the school administration even cared about the Phantom Thieves. Shido’s men were trying to quietly find information about the Change of Heart situations, and they probably thought that the incident involving the former gym teacher would be the best place to start looking. Madarame had so many connections, branching out all across Japan, that’d it would be hard to pinpoint suspects. Kamoshida had limited connections after his Olympics career, and mainly stuck to his workplace, Shujin Academy. Investigating his case, the original incident, would be the smartest and most effective way to root out suspicious individuals. 

These idiots were going to be discovered at this rate- which could not happen. He refused to think about the fucking SIU director throwing down profiles on his desk, telling Goro that these morons would be his next targets. 

_ Maybe… maybe he could push them in the right direction? _

_ But how does he do that without being obvious? _

Later on, he was waving goodbye to the two blondes at the train station, Akira waiting by his side giving his own goodbyes quietly. And then, it was just the two of them standing side by side (and the cat that was napping in Akira’s bag- but whatever). 

“Akira.”

“Yeah?”

Hesitation viciously filled him. So much could be ruined if he just was up front about it- 

“You’re coming to the TV station again tomorrow, right?”

“Yeah, our class trip is two days long.”

“I’ll see you there, then… Bye.”

~ ~ ~

Something was definitely up with Goro. He didn’t get a chance to ask him what exactly was bugging him as the other boy hurried away, after giving one of the most strained goodbyes Akira has ever heard. Maybe he overdid it today at lunch, trying to push the boys buttons to get him to loosen up. Goro never did though, and in fact Akira may have caused him to become more tense during their hangout. Perhaps he would be better by tomorrow, when they would see each other again at the TV station. 

He hoped so, he finally had an idea on what he wanted to do for Goro’s late birthday surprise, and he wanted the prickly detective to be in a better mood when he gave him the time and place for it. Seeing the brunette stressed made him feel irrationally protective. He wanted to selfishly steal Goro away and punch whatever was making his friend feel bad in the face.

“Hey kid, wipe down the counter for me, yeah?” Sojiro tossed him a damp cloth, returning to scrubbing dirty dishes in the sink. Getting up from his seat at the bar, Akira grabbed the rag and started working on getting the water stains and dust off the wood counter. Focusing extremely hard on one spot in particular that didn’t seem to want to wipe off.

“Hey, are things okay? I mean at school, and with your friends. You’ve seemed a bit frustrated as of lately.” The question caught Akira off guard, surprise painting his face as he peeked over his shoulder at Sojiro.

“I’m alright.”

That answer didn’t seem to convince the man much, “Okay, but if anything does come up you can tell me. I’m here to look out for you, to make sure that you’re doing alright. If you need anything, let me know.”

The sincerity hurt, made his chest squeeze uncomfortably. What Sojiro had said reminded him of his mother’s own words- words that were said years ago as a way of showing unconditional support and love, and then broken. He craved that trust he once had with his mom back, but he knew that in his current state that he’d never get it. Akira wasn’t some cute little kid anymore- he was just a reminder of a failed marriage, and deadbeat father.

“Um… maybe later.”

“That’s fine, I’m always open ears.”

Maybe after walls weren’t closing in from every side of him he would tell Sojiro about it. Right now, he was afraid he would say too much if he started to try to explain his situation in even generic terms, forgoing the specifics about the Metaverse.

“Thanks, Boss.”

~ ~ ~

In his dreams that night, he was being hunted, continuously chased wherever he went. Hiding around corners, listening for the crashing steps of his pursuer, he gathered his breath the best he could. Panting heavily, his lungs screamed for air.

He could make it- he could escape if he kept going. The door out of the warehouse he was trapped in was dead ahead, so he sprinted, focusing solely on the exit. A bone chilling screech erupted into the air behind him, accompanied by pounding strides hitting the floor with such intensity he could feel the vibrations shoot up his spine. 

**_No- he could make it!_ **

A gunshot sounded off, and suddenly he was on the ground, his limbs splaying out from under him. He tried to move, but found that his muscles were failing him, his muscles weren’t cooperating and refused to work.

The ground around him was splattered in a dark fluid- blood? 

His blood.

He was dying. 

Everything was growing darker around him, details were becoming fuzzy, sounds were becoming metallic and indistinct, echoing in his shell of a body.

And then he woke up, yelling, panicked, unsure of where he was. Eyes wild, looking around the room for his hunter, for his murderer. He couldn’t breathe.

Then he felt something yanking and tearing at his pajama shirt- claws. He jumped ready to fling whatever was on him away, until he saw black and white fluff screaming at him, worriedness and fear in its voice.

“Akira! Akira! You’re okay! Wake up! Please wake up!” The yowling started to finally reach his ears.

“Mona?” It came out breathy, barely formed syllables. His throat burned and felt ripped out.

“It’s okay, I’m here!” Morgana crawled up his body touching his wet nose to his own, paws pressing into his chest. “Slow deep breaths, alright.”

Akira’s hands curled around the feline, hugging him to his body in a snug hold. He buried his head into Morgana’s fur, as he shakily took in air.

“See better, right?”

He couldn’t answer with actual words so he just made a noise, hoping that Mona would understand.

“Do you want to go back to sleep?”

Another small noise.

“Then we’ll stay up together, until you feel better…” 

He didn’t end up sleeping again for the rest of the night, but eventually he did calm down. Sitting in a booth downstairs, he had the lights on, enjoying some coffee he had saved in a thermos and reheated. Mona laid across his lap, providing a warm and comfortable weight that kept him grounded. His hands still shook, not quite done with the aftermath of the pure terror that had consumed him.

_ He was okay. _

_ Everything was going to be okay. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully the next chapter will be out soon, thank you everybody for your patience!  
> Let me know what you think!


	7. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoop! New chapter hell yeah  
> Also this fic is officially over 100 pages long in my google doc, so yay~  
> Getting back into the groove of more frequent updates! Let's see how long that last though because I start school again tomorrow

Today was just not his day.

Panic inducing nightmares aside, today had been pretty shitty. 

Going to “Day Two” of his class trip, on pretty much zero hours of sleep made him feel  _ a certain kind of way.  _ Somewhere between passive, like a ghost merely floating along barely existing, and increasingly agitated, where every minor inconvenience made him want to snap and bite the head off of the nearest person next to him. Ann and Ryuji-  _ thankfully _ \- lightened his mood when he met up with them at the front of the TV studio. He gladly chattered with them while Kawakami took attendance, almost forgetting how he had been mercilessly killed in his dream the previous night (except the shivers that still ran up and down his spine, and the piercing phantom pain in his skull). They had planned over text with Yusuke to meet up in Shibuya so they could come up with how they would approach Niijima- trying to formulate a successful truce with the girl. So far they didn’t have too much to go off of- mainly because they didn’t know why the Principal was so invested in finding the Phantom Thieves- but they could fix that. It would just take a little snooping-  _ probably. _

When they were seated in the audience section of the filming room by the production assistants, told that today they would be watching the live filming of an interview, Akira was actually happy about it. For a second he tried to relax in the chair he was sitting in, unfortunately not really able to get his tense and achingly exhausted feeling muscles to respond. That didn’t matter though because as soon as the show started he gave up on being comfortable and instead tried to sit up straight to the best of his ability. If his body wanted to be an ass and be as tightly wound as a rubber band, it could be for all he cared.

Seeing Goro strut out onto stage ( _ he did say he was doing an interview before didn’t he- his tired brain must have forgotten _ ) was weird- as he was proudly wearing his full on “actor” mask. Perfectly white smiles, straight posture, hair coiffed in a way that made it look effortlessly done, the thick makeup hiding any imperfections, and those (kind of mildly terrifying if he was being honest) mocha brown contacts that made his irises look bigger than they actually were. The brunette waved at the audience, excited squeals from a group of girls in the front row ringing in his ears. Fake brown eyes scanned the crowd, only stopping when they caught sight of black messy curls. A flirty wink was sent his way, which made the girls in the row in front of him even louder, and his face a bit warm. 

“Akechi really plays up the pretty boy thing, huh?” He heard Ryuji whisper next to him.

“It’s not playing it up if he is naturally attractive.” Ann harshly said back.

“What- is he your type Ann?” The boy shot back in a teasing manner.

“Pfft, no. I know he’s definitely someone else’s type though~”

The two pairs of eyes that landed on him made the back of his neck itch. Quiet cat giggles danced around in the bottom of his bag too, adding to that unbearable tingle.

_ Oh no. _

He was eternally grateful for the loud shushing that came from some of the other students, quieting everybody down. The two blondes that sat to his right were still snickering silently to themselves, but it was better than the ribbing that would have happened otherwise. 

Honestly, Akira just wanted to watch the interview, and then have a quick chat with Goro, before he hopped back onto a train to Central Street. But of course he couldn’t have that- not today at least. His luck was just nonexistent.

The detective on stage, sitting poised on the interviewee’s couch, was spewing all kinds of stuff about his investigation into mental shut down cases, the recent cases involving Shujin and Madarame, and then of course the Phantom Thieves. Mentioning how they must be using “supernatural means” also made all the alarm bells in Akira’s brain go off, danger screaming in his ears. It only occurred to him now that maybe Goro was a lot sharper than he portrayed himself as, if he was able to figure out that the Change of Heart incidents weren’t caused physically. It then occurred to him that his friend was also a little shit, as he, the interviewer, and the hostess (who was holding out a microphone to him expectantly), all were waiting for his opinion on the Phantom Thieves.

_ Just a big old fuck you from the universe, huh? _

“They’re doing more than the cops.” He said gruffly into the speaker, his voice a bit on the rougher side from lack of sleep. He caught the mildly terrified looks of some of his peers, as he spoke, and the fake grin of Goro and the TV people too. He really wasn’t making a good case for himself, was he?  _ Damnit. _

The rest of the time he spent in the studio felt agonizingly long, but also incredibly short. He heard Goro give his speech responding to his answer, feeling even worse afterward. While most of it was probably for show, he didn’t like how the brunette seemed so firmly against his poorly worded stance, claiming that the Phantom Thieves needed to be arrested. After the show was over Ann and Ryuji gave him approximately a second to get away from the crowd before berating him (not that he didn’t deserve it).

“Dude, I can’t believe you said that on live television!”

“Yeah, holy shit, Akira! Way to keep a low profile!”

“I wasn’t thinking-”

“Bro-”

“Speaking of are you okay, I don’t want to come off as rude, but you look bad today Akira.” Well at least he could always count on Ann for being up front with him.

“I’m fine, I just didn’t sleep last night.” Nervously he twisted his hair between his fingers.

“Like at all?” Her voice was now dipping into that concerned tone that made Akira’s stomach twist with guilt.

“Yeah~”

A firm hand on his shoulder caused him to lazily look over to Ryuji, who had an equally as worried look about him. “Hey man if you don’t feel good, we can always meet up again another time with Yusuke.”

Akira shook his head. “Nah, I’ll be okay. We should just meet today.”

“Akira-” Ann sounded as if she was going to lecture him, but she cut herself off. Her eyes were trained on something behind him, which he briefly glanced at over his shoulder.

It, of course, was Goro. 

“Hello!”

The ever increasing urge to find somewhere to hide was tempting, he wouldn’t lie. “Hi, Goro.” He hated the sound of his voice right now, scratchy and meek.

“We’re going to grab some stuff from a vending machine, you want anything?” Ann asked, her arm linked with Ryuji’s as she started to point them in the direction towards the exit.

Akira gave her a little wave and shake of the head, “Nah, I’m alright.”

He appreciated them leaving, but at the same time he wished that they had stayed. His exhaustion was really starting to get to him. 

It didn’t go unnoticed by the junior sleuth either, as his falsey brown eyes narrowed in scrutiny. “Are you alright? You look… tired.” 

He appreciated the attempt to not hurt his self esteem, even though it was rolling around in hot garbage right now. “ _ I am tired _ .”

The beat of silence bordered on awkward, until thankfully the detective broke it, clearly bothered by it as well. “I’m sorry if it seemed like I was attacking your opinion before, I know about your sentiments towards law enforcement, and understand why you’re not the biggest fan of the police. However I am surprised to hear that you support the Phantom Thieves.”

“What can I say, I like rooting for the underdog.” His hair twirling didn’t stop as he talked.

The brunette’s eyes narrowed in a slight squint, and the beginnings of a smirk was there as well pulling at the ends of his mouth-  _ Goro knew he was lying _ . Akira didn’t know the extent of Goro’s knowledge, but it was clear that he knew at the very least that something was amiss. The black haired boy wasn’t sure if he was relieved or scared that the detective knew- it all depended on what would happen next he supposed. Anticipation bubbled in his veins, not so much about him getting caught, but whether or not Goro would want to stick around with him if he knew he was a Phantom Thief.

“Well that’s one way of viewing the Phantom Thieves, I suppose. Though I feel like that’s only part of the reason why you like them.” 

_ Oh here they go- _

“Yeah?” While that usually would have come across as sarcastic, daring Goro to say what he actually was thinking, his words came across choked up.  _ God his throat felt dry. _

“As much as I want to discuss more with you, you sound horrible. There’s a tea shop nearby here, we should go.” The once predatory look now softening into something docile- dare he say caring on Goro’s face.

When Akira opened his mouth to decline the offer a cough wracked his frame and he instantly relented. “Okay.”

~ ~ ~

Sitting at a table, tucked away in the corner of the tea shop, Akira sipped on some green tea (although reluctantly- black tea and coffee were better in his opinion). He had sent a message in the group chat, explaining that he’d be late for their meeting. It resulted in him being mercilessly flooded with texts questioning if he was out with Goro, some money being exchanged between Ann and Ryuji, and then Yusuke congratulating him on his ‘date’.  _ God sometimes his friend group made him want to scream. _

Goro had his own cup of tea that he was nursing as well. Treating it as a refreshing drink, after he changed out of his TV show get up to something much more appropriate for the sweltering summer weather. His white button up’s sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, he forewent wearing a tie, and his usual pair of leather gloves were put away in his briefcase. His eyes, which were back to a familiar rust color now that the contacts were gone, studied Akira’s form. 

He wasn’t even trying to hide that he was staring. “Is your throat any better?” 

Akira looked up from his glass and hummed in response, forgoing using actual words to answer.

“Good.”

Silver irises glanced through fake glasses before he cleared his throat and sat up a bit straighter. “So what were you going to say before- back in the studio?”

Something between a grimace and a smile settled on Goro’s lips, he spoke in a low tone of voice. “I’m going to be frank with you-” his red eyes were sharp, “you’re in a spot right now, where if I didn’t know you personally- that makes you look like the prime suspect in the Phantom Thieves cases. Which may I remind you are related to the mental shutdown cases.” He leaned in closer, faces merely inches apart from Akira’s, noses nearly bumping. “I know that you didn’t cause the mental shutdowns, you have no motive to do so- and as far as I know, you have no way in doing so either. But arguments like that are only so convincing to people like the police or SIU director, who want to throw someone-  _ anyone- _ behind bars and so they can put all these cases to rest. ”

“So what are you saying?” Akira whispered back, moving so he could say it directly into Goro’s ear. He could feel his heart beat in his fingertips, pounding loudly in his ears.

“You’re toeing a dangerous line.” The brunette’s breath felt warm against his face, “-And I refuse to sit back and wait for the authorities to take you away.” A hand curled around Akira’s, cupping it against the side of his mug, “ _ I’m not losing you again. _ ”

He was shaking, and he couldn’t stop.

_ It hurt, so much. _

_ Blooming pain, bleeding want- it was paralyzing. _

Goro’s other hand trailed fingers down to the ravenette’s elbow, feeling the shivers that danced along Akira’s skin, soaking them up. Intense crimson eyes and chestnut hair flooded his vision, and so badly he wanted to drown in it.

But then, the other boy pulled back and away from him, sitting properly back in his seat. Akira was experiencing something close to whiplash as the cold air of the tea shop whooshed back into his space, causing his overheated skin to feel icy and chilled. He felt cheated.

“You need to be careful, the staff at your school have been instructed to monitor the situation at Shujin Academy, and to give the names of any suspicious individuals over to the police. I can’t do anything for you once you’ve been marked down as a suspect.” The finality in Goro’s words were mildly terrifying- like he knew exactly what would happen to him.

A small chuckle left his mouth, as he readjusted his glasses on his face. “Thanks Goro for worrying, but I’m not involved with the Phantom Thieves. I’ll be alright.” He stood up from the table, grabbing his bag off the ground next to him. Gently he waved goodbye as he set off towards the exit. The detective didn’t say anything or even move, merely watching him as he left through the front door of the store- oddly stoic.

~ ~ ~

“So Akechi told you that the police are most likely the ones forcing your Principal to investigate?” Yusuke asked as he sucked down the cola drink Akira had spotted him. He hated sitting down again so soon, but the diner on Central Street was as good a place as any to hold a team meeting.

“More like the Special Investigations Unit director, who has more authority than the normal police.” He mumbled, head cradled in his arms. “Goro said that since there are similarities between the mental shutdown cases and the Changes of Heart, that the police think the two are linked.”

“ _ We’re not murderers-”  _ Ann hissed quietly, the notion upsetting her.

“We aren’t-” Morgana popped his head out of his bag (he had rejoined Akira outside of the tea shop when he had left in a hurry), “Changes of Hearts don’t kill palace rulers, it just eliminates their distortion. The police are only linking the two together because they can’t find any physical evidence on how someone changed the mental state of another person.”

“It doesn’t matter- from the sounds of it, hard evidence isn’t even the most of their concerns right now. They’re looking for names.” Akira added.

“So they’ll make an arrest with no evidence in order to quell the panic around the other cases…” Yusuke’s dark eyes looked downtrodden, obviously feeling the paranoia that was emanating from Akira and the situation at large.

“Evidence is secondary- they can gather it later, or forge it as long as they have a person to pin everything on.” He hated sounding like a downer, but frankly things were looking glum.

“This sucks, what the hell are we supposed to do if they can just arrest us anyway?” Ryuji’s voice hitched with panic and fear- understandable considering.

_ No- _

_ Things couldn’t end like this. They could turn this around! _

“ _ Then we dig deeper-”  _ he propped his head up, glancing around the table, looking all the thieves in the eyes, “If they want to get us, we get them first. Niijima and the Principal are small fry- what we need to do is use them to get to the big fish.”

“Akira-” Morgana’s meow bordered on excitement.

“Our next target is the Special Investigation Unit director, and their accomplices~ ”

~ ~ ~

Admittedly the hype from their team meeting helped in getting a jumpstart on their revamped investigation into the situation surrounding the school’s surveillance of them. They brainstormed on where to begin for several minutes afterward and then decided on the steps they would need going forward, which included gathering evidence of the police manipulating the principal into doing their jobs for them.

It didn’t take them too long to think of a good way to do so- and so the next day when they were back in their classroom at school, Akira wasted no time in propositioning the biggest Phanboy he knew.

“Hey, Mishima~”

The smaller boy seemed shocked initially, which then quickly morphed into excited glee as he noticed Akira lean against his desk. Quickly he fumbled with his stuff on his desk and then sat at attention.

“Kurusu, how is everything going-” he glanced around quickly, and then almost comically put his hand up to shield his words from prying eyes (even though there were none), “-with you know what?”

“Actually I wanted to talk to you about that. I need your help with something-”

Seeing Mishima’s eyes quite literally light up with validation was incredibly endearing, and made Akira feel bittersweet at the same time. Sometimes he forgot that he and the other Phantom Thieves were his only “irl friends” as he put it. 

“Of course! Whatever you need!”

“Great.”

He reached into his bookbag, and felt Mona shove the envelope he was looking for into his searching hand. Quietly he mumbled a “thank you” before pulling it out and placing it neatly in front of the bright eyed teen.

“Specifics are in the envelope, message me if you need any clarification.”

“Oh my god, this is legit like one of those spy-undercover type movies. I won’t let you down, Kurusu- I swear!”

Akira brought his pointer finger to his lips in a shushing motion, and instantly Mishima shut his mouth. The boy then pretended to zip his lips shut, and throw the key away.

“I’ll see you around Mishima~” He waved as he left the classroom, heading to the courtyard where he would be meeting with Ryuji and Ann. He sent a small text to the group chat merely stating “Letter dropped”, before pocketing his phone and continuing on his way.

_ He’ll have to see where things go from here. _

~ ~ ~

Watching Akira leave the tea shop, his goodbye feeling more like a dismissal than anything, was infuriating. He had set everything up- provoked him during the TV interview, got him alone and implied that he knew about his little Phantom Thief escapades, he told him about who was behind his constant harassment and surveillance at school, had even been a bit handsier than he should have been (for his sake more so than Akira’s)- and then that  _ bastard  _ had the gaul to blow him off. To lie to his face, like nothing was wrong. To pretend that he wasn’t one misstep away from a life behind bars-  _ or something fucking worse. _

_ How fucking dare he! _

_ Why didn’t he tell him- why didn’t he trust him!? _

Saying half the information he had shared out loud with Akira could potentially get Goro killed if anybody in Shido’s ring found out. Did that idiot not realize how serious this whole situation was? If he plunged through Madarame’s palace he should have realized how ingrained and interconnected the vain old man had been in the corrupted elite in this country- so why didn’t he seem to realize that he was sticking his hand in a fire? A fire of greedy, powerful, monsters who wouldn’t blink twice if they had to get rid of some stupid brat.

He had meant it when he said it, he wasn’t losing Akira again. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t be thoroughly pissed off with him too. Especially since the absolute moron was putting his life in jeopardy by not using his one connection to the police.

_ No- _

All he had to do was some damage control, then everything would resolve. This could be fixed. He knew their next course of action now, and he could stop them from doing anything too rash…

_ But they needed to do something rash at this point to survive. If they didn’t they would be caught. _

_ No… _

**_He needed to do something rash._ **

Yes, he could end up taking the fall- exposing himself. But he rather be killed than wake up to a news headline detailing the arrest of his best friend- and who was he kidding. If Akira was a suspected Persona user he would be murdered- probably by the Yakuza, and if he was perceived as big enough of a threat, Goro would be sent after him. 

_ Goro wouldn’t be caught though, not if he executed this the right way. _

He spent the next couple of days just existing. Time passed by, he did the things he was supposed to do (homework, filing fake papers and evidence, giving his analysis and advice on the Phantom Thieves case). A couple times Shido checked in with him, feeding him more lines to say for interviewers. 

However, he didn’t contact Akira at all during that time span. The weak, pitifully clingy part of him, wanted to so badly- as if he needed the boy just to feel something. But he resisted temptation and didn’t. Occasionally he would get texts from the other boy asking how he was doing, and if he was okay- more than once he wanted to open the actual text chain to read them, but didn’t in fear of getting the little check mark “read” next to the messages.

Distancing himself for a little while was necessary. At the tea shop he had seen the look that had stricken Akira’s face, he knew that the boy felt as hopelessly confused and desperate for him too. It was despairing as it was delectably satisfying. Akira wanted him, the same way he wanted Akira. He had caught hints of it in their interactions before, in their playful banter and teasing games, but that wide eyed look had been a whole new caliber of unadulterated desire. If they had been somewhere else, his apartment, Leblanc, even his dressing room in the TV studio he would have gone for it- he would have kissed him. But there were too many eyes around in the shop, even in their sheltered spot.

If Goro got caught kissing boys in public, there’s no telling what the media would say about him, and what reaction that would garner from his many (predominantly female) fans. And while society was much more accepting of same-sex attraction in the modern day, homophobia was still a very real thing- and something that he didn’t want to deal with head on at the moment if he was being honest. (Not to mention he did not want to have the awkward conversation of ‘coming out’ with his estranged father, his lackeys, or literally anyone in his work circle if it became the topic of tabloids- frankly just thinking about it made him want to throw up.)

He was fine with keeping his infatuation with Akira to himself. Nobody else needed to know anyway- not even Akira. As much as he was thrilled to see that the dark haired boy was enamored with him, it would be incredibly selfish of Goro to act upon it- especially with his past. Akira deserved better than him- preferably someone who wasn’t a murderer.

_ Plus he was still mad that Akira wouldn’t tell him that he was a Phantom Thief. _

_ Who was he trying to impress anyway- certainly not Goro. _

_ He didn’t need sheltering or protecting! _

Goro was perfectly confident in his own abilities to look out for himself (he’s spent too many years in neglectful care to not be the least bit resourceful). Now was actually the opportune time to expand that skill to include looking out for others too, perhaps~ (while he only cared about Akira’s wellbeing, saving all the Phantom Thieves from themselves was probably the best maneuver in the long run-  _ less mess that way _ ).

Yes, this would absolutely work. He would take a card out of his stupid father’s own book to accomplish this. Shido would have no clue about his involvement, the Phantom Thieves would continue to conceal their identities, and it might remind those on top that they are only human after all. The only downside is that he would become increasingly suspicious- but he could change that after all he knew what the Phantom Thieves would eventually do, he just had to limit his involvement to specific moments only.

_ Well- it was time to start laying the foundation then. _

~ ~ ~

“Niijima-senpai, I finished cleaning those rooms you asked me to do!”

The student council president looked up from the documents she was organizing, all spread out in various piles on the table in front of her, and regarded the boy with a pleased smile and nod. “Thank you, Mishima-kun. I appreciate it a lot.”

The second year gave a polite half-bow before perking up and fishing for a set of keys in his pockets. Holding them out for her to take. “Here are the keys senpai, I made sure that all the faculty rooms, supplies locker, and gym were locked up too!”

“Excellent!” She took the key ring from his grasp and placed them on the table next to her, “You’re free to go now- and again the other student council members and I really are grateful for the extra help.”

“Of course. Now if you’ll excuse me.” Another curt bow and then the boy left the student council room, a happy spring in his step. Once he made it out the door he whipped out his phone and immediately shot off several messages.

“ _ Found some interesting emails on the Principal’s computer, using a personal email rather than the faculty url” _

_ “Something about revoking funds” _

_ “The person he is contacting had a hidden contact” _

_ “Reference phone calls several times throughout the messages” _

_ “I downloaded a zip file with the emails on a flashdrive, will hand it off to you ASAP” _

Yuuki hummed a happy tune as he walked out of the front gates of Shujin Academy, feeling accomplished. He excitedly checked his phone when it vibrated.

“ _ Awesome, meet me outside beef bowl place in Central Street” _

“ _ Gotcha!” _

He threw his phone into his bag, and patted his pants pocket assuredly, feeling the small bulky form of the flashdrive there. Not bad for his first in-person mission, if he says so himself.

~ ~ ~

It was currently Sunday, meaning that today was a day of rest-  _ thank god _ . No school, no staff or Niijima spying on him; it was a day where he could stare at the ceiling blankly- and it was okay for once because he had nothing else productive to do. At least that was the case before Sojiro managed to drag him downstairs and started going over coffee blends and brewing techniques (there was a lack of customers today). While they were cleaning up a bit later, after brewing a large pot of coffee (which he had happily taken several cups of and stored in a thermos for later), Akira checked his phone and huffed when he saw that he was still being ignored by Goro.

To be fair, he did just kind of run off on the detective while he was rambling to him about the police- and making “eyes” at him. In his defence, it was overwhelming.  _ All of it.  _ The information, his throat and cough, the touching, the close proximity, the fucking amount of tension and hormones- just a mess overall. Plus, Goro had pulled back from it- he didn’t want that apparently- or at least not right then. Which made his stomach knot itself in all sorts of horrible shapes, as he tried to process the information that Akechi Goro was going to send him to an early grave by being the world’s biggest tease.

_ But still- _

He wanted to hear from the other boy again, even if Goro was upset at him.

So he tried again- this time a call. Sitting outside of Leblanc in the alleyway, he rested his back against a concrete wall, watching the neighborhood cats walk along the fences and rooftops, as he waited. The phone buzzed several times, and then it went straight to voicemail playing a voice recorded message of Goro in a polite tone asking him to leave a message and his contact information so he could call him back later. He hung up, not bothering, a drawn out sigh leaving him.

How the hell was he supposed to apologize if Goro didn’t pick up the phone or even look at his text messages?

Whatever- he had other things to do today other than mope about Goro.

Walking back inside of LeBlanc, he sat down at the corner of the bar, in front of the small shelf of books that Sojiro had out (and a few of his own additions that he had bought- mainly recipe books). Akira pulled out the pastry and dessert recipe book on the shelf, a gift that Haru had given him in exchange for helping her out with her garden (which he had told her he didn’t need to be rewarded or compensated for, but she insisted). He flipped it open to a page detailing how to make lemon madeleines- a treat that he personally was interested in making, to pair with coffee. He reread the recipe several times, and then scanned over the pictures in the book, not really absorbing any information, but rather passively observing it.

His thoughts were occupied, and his body was on edge. They weren’t out of the woods yet by any means, but the information that had been on the flashdrive Mishima had passed off to him had been more than sufficient for a starting point. It acted as a confirmation of the information that Goro had told him- and even expanded on it. 

Getting Niijima to back off was the next objective, which hopefully wouldn’t be that hard. While she was essentially acting as a bloodhound for the Principal- that loyalty was what he was banking on. Niijima was not a bad person, quite the opposite. She cared deeply for the school, for the teachers and students, and wanted to do everything in her power to make school life better for everybody- while upholding the school’s reputation. As much as the girl had been a pain in his ass for over a month now, Akira couldn’t bring himself to outwardly hate her. He was annoyed- but he knew that he’d probably act similarly in her situation. Especially if the whispers and rumors surrounding the girl were true ( _ he had Mishima also gather gossip while hunting for information, which made him feel icky, but it was a necessary evil) _ . This whole situation was just shitty for everybody involved (except for the SIU director of course- but that would be amended later).

~ ~ ~

  
  


Monday afternoon finally rolled around, and most of the students at Shujin were packing up and were making the trek to the train station, relieved to finally be released from class. However, currently Akira, Ryuji, and Mishima were all hiding around the corner by the staircase, waiting for the next phase of their plan to begin. The energy in their huddle was high, as nerves buzzed loudly- a lot was resting on this.

“Where is she?” Ryuji whispered, peaking over the top of Mishima’s head, not so sneakily poking his head out from behind the corner.

“We just have to wait- “ Akira quietly said. He was struggling to see over the top of both of the boys in front of him, only catching glimpses of the hallway every so often.

When twin blonde pigtails suddenly appeared out of the student council room door, and beckoned over to them with a wave, the three boys, as calm and collected as they could seem to be, marched over. Ann sighed, not impressed by their behavior, but stood aside, letting them pile into the room. Once inside they were greeted by the harrowing sight of Niijima staring them down, her bright red eyes burning into them. Her mouth hidden behind her folded hands, she looked very much like a mob boss.

_ Awesome- _

“ _ Well hello, isn’t it my favorite band of thieves _ ,” her pupils flickered over to Mishima, “though I will say I am surprised to hear about your cooperation Mishima-kun. I didn’t take you to be a rule breaker.” The venom in her words made Akira want to dive under the table and hide.

“Hi, Niijima-senpai~” Mishima gave a small wave, head down looking at the ground. He seemed to shrink under her harsh gaze.

Something akin to a scoff left the young woman’s mouth as she returned her attention to the others, “I will say that I’m surprised that you willingly sought me out, and exposed yourselves. It’s not something that most people with a sense of self-preservation would do.” She gestured to the open chairs around the table, “Please take a seat, we obviously have a lot to discuss.”

Once everyone was seated at the table, Ryuji and Ann were giving off an air of confidence- while Mishima seemed to be a bit nervous (understandable, this was his first “field mission” as they were calling it). Akira rolled his shoulders back before speaking. “Niijima-san, I’m sure you understand the circumstances surrounding your investigation into the Phantom Thieves. We’re here, outing ourselves to you, because this goes beyond protecting ourselves and our identities. There is a much larger problem afoot.”

“I’m aware, from what Takamaki-san showed me. Principal Kobayakawa has been receiving messages, emails and phone calls, threatening not only his job position, but funding for Shujin Academy. Since there are no transcripts of phone calls it's hard to say what else was said verbally and not in written form, but blackmail isn’t out of the question here- it doesn’t take a genius to put that together.”

“We’re also aware that the Principal- while he is being manipulated, is manipulating  _ you-” _

_ “What do mean- that’s preposterous!”  _ Niijima’s voice nearly broke out into a yell- obviously that was a sore spot.

“Dangling a letter of recommendation, and your college career, over your head- using it as a way to get you to help him- is wrong Niijima-san!” Ann shot back, raising the volume she spoke at a bit.

A bitter smile pasted itself on the girl’s face, her bright red eyes glowed with silent fury. “ _ You think I don’t know that?” _

“Then why are you letting him get away with it?” The punkish boy interjected, leaning forward and resting on his elbows.

“It may be a hard pill for a bunch of rebels like the Phantom Thieves to swallow, but some people can’t do anything without getting hurt, or hurting the people around them. And even now, with this information that you have- what exactly are you going to do to fix things? The police are looking for you, you’re wanted fugitives.”

“That’s why we’re here talking to you Niijima-san.” Silver met red in a tense clash of stares, “You’re the only person that can help us change everything. We need you to be on our side.”

“And what do you mean by that, exactly?”

“You’re the only person who can delay the investigation- and in turn our arrests. Kobayakawa is solely relying on you to find the Phantom Thieves- and whoever in the police department or SIU is threatening him is relying on him to give them information.”

“But why should I help you?”

“Because the SIU director wants to drop the mental shutdown cases, and pin the Phantom Thieves as the culprits- we would be scapegoats while an actual criminal would be free to further cause chaos. I don’t think I need to explain further how letting a murderer walk free, and convicting people with no evidence is wrong.”

The older girl was quiet for a few moments. She seemed contemplative and calm, but Akira knew that in her head there was some impressive mental gymnastics taking place. “Then I’ll help you- but I want to know about everything that is going on, including about the previous cases involving the Phantom Thieves.”

“Fine.”

“Dude, really?” Ryuji gave him an incredulous look.

“Why not, she already knows our secret anyway.” Akira hummed and turned back to the student council president, reaching out his hand. 

_ “Welcome to the team, Niijima-san.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When you're your own greatest cockblock, aka the Akechi Goro experience  
> Also Makoto is finally here- hell ye
> 
> New chapter soon! I've been on a roll with this story lately!


	8. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaah here it is! This chapter is a bit longer than usual too, it's 8000+ words rather than 6000+!  
> Lots of stuff relevant to the new palace and canon divergence here!

Smoke hung in the air, swirling about like a lazy fog. The smell of alcohol tickled his nose, sickeningly sweet and bitter, acting in tandem with the hazy lighting of the purple and pink neons bathing the bar in a psychedelic glow. If Sojiro knew where he was right now he wouldn’t be allowed outside of the attic ever again- _that much he was sure of_. He only became more convinced of that, when a woman with ruby red lipstick, obviously a few drinks in, waved at him, a devilish smile adorning her face.

“Hey hun, how old are you? This isn’t a place for minors to be running around.” The bartender’s warning was immediately overturned by the inebriated reporter, sitting directly across the bar counter from her.

“Don’t worry Lala-chan, he’s with me~”

Grabbed by his hand he was then led ( _dragged)_ to a private booth, hidden away in the corner of the bar, a thick curtain blocking out anyone from hearing or seeing their conversation. A glass of water sat in front of him, while the woman was still sipping on the whiskey he had seen her with when he first went through the doors of Crossroads. Part of him wished that he managed to drag Ryuji in here with him so he wasn’t alone- but at the same time he took solace in knowing that he and Mishima were across the street, in the bookstore on the corner, keeping an eye out for him ( _sneaking into bars wasn’t exactly legal when you were only 17_ ). But he felt tense- he knew that this reporter, as much as he was looking for information, was also looking for her own. Not quite ready to make eye contact and start the conversation, he watched the condensation on his cup gather and fall down the side of his glass, trying to look anywhere but at her.

“So kid, you messaged me about needing information- what do you want to know?” 

Akira’s mouth felt dry, and his tongue heavy, but he pushed forward, “I want to know about the Special Investigations Unit, and the rumors of dirty behavior.”

Something flashed in the woman’s face, shock, anger, humor- too much to be readable in the mere second it was there. “Oh? And what does a high schooler want with that information?” She shifted in her seat, crossing her legs, giving him a lookover. “Do you happen to go to Shujin Academy, young man?”

He found himself blinking quickly as he nodded. “How did you-”

“When we first met outside of Madarame’s residence, you and your friends were wearing Shujin uniforms, were you not?”

Akira briefly remembered when he ran into the journalist for the first time, and how she had pawed off her business card onto him. She had approached his group as they were brooding outside of Madarame’s house- _admittedly that probably seemed suspicious in itself_ \- and with no problem interjected herself into their conversation. She had been looking for leads on Madarame at the time, and now it seems as if that craving for knowledge and conspiracies was still there. ( _He was thankful that Morgana had reminded him of the business card that she had given them, otherwise who knows what he’d be doing in an attempt to look for leads right now._ )

“Plus, if you’re digging around for answers involving _that_ \- there’s only one school that’s dealing with heat from the police currently.” She leaned forward, resting her chin in her hand, her eyes narrowing. “I could tell you what I know, but frankly it’s a bad business practice to give anything away for free.”

“We could make a deal- _an exchange.”_ The words left his mouth quickly in a stumble.

She hummed, amused. “ _Oooh I like the sound of that-_ alright so here’s what’s going to happen. I’ve been assigned to report on the Phantom Thieves-”

Muscles tensed at the name drop.

“-there has to be someone at your school or that you know that was involved with the harassment cases at Shujin. If I could get an interview with them, so I have a reliable primary source for my article, that would be _excellent_ ~”

“I know of one.”

Mishima would be understanding… probably.

“Fantastic! I knew you’d be a good lead. You’re a Phantom Thieves fanboy aren’t you, I can totally tell!”

“ _Something like that_.” His smile was forced, but he kept it up in good humor. He needed this information badly. With the emails that they took straight from the Principal’s computer at school, Goro’s vague warning of police involvement, and now the additional help of their outfits’ newest addition (albeit Makoto was still warming up to the rest of them, understandably)- he still needed an in on what was going on with the SIU. Knowing that the investigators were up to something wasn’t good enough, he needed the specifics, and information on the people behind the blackmail, manipulation, and possibly illegal prosecutions of others.

A small laugh left Ohya’s nose before she continued, “Alright, now that we have agreed on our terms let’s talk about the SIU.” She took a swig of her drink, draining the rest of the glass before harshly slamming the glass down on the table and letting out a big exhale, releasing all the air that was trapped in her chest.

_“So, where to start-”_

~ ~ ~

Akira shambled out of Crossroads, shoulders hunched and head pointed to look at the ground, avoiding the many callers that cried out for his attention as he made a beeline for the tiny bookstore. He practically threw the door open, catching Mishima and Ryuji off guard. The two of them floundered for a second before throwing whatever magazine they were pointing and laughing at back on the shelf.

“So, how’d it go?” Ryuji asked in a sing-songy tone. His signature cheesy smile on his face. The Mona bag hanging from his shoulder, but suspiciously there was no feline to be seen. 

_Akira could worry about that later-_

“Mishima, you have an interview-” a sound of confusion left the boy, but Akira continued, “All of us need to talk- right now. It’s like we thought, but _probably worse._ ” he mumbled, side eyeing the store clerk that kept glancing up at their huddle.

“Dude, it’s pretty late, trains are going to stop running soon-” The blonde said, hushed.

“Plus, it’s a school night!” Mishima interjected, looking a bit worried after everything that had come out from Akira’s mouth. _Understandable, especially since Ohya wanted to steal him away for a glamorized version of an interrogation basically- but he didn’t know that yet._

Slate gray eyes bore into the ceiling as their owner hummed in thought. “Sleep over at LeBlanc?”

The reciprocating deadpan stares he got from both the boys made him sag his shoulders and grumble under his breath. _He knew when he was beat_. “Fine- we’ll just meet up tomorrow some time.”

“Hey, don’t sweat it ‘Kira. We’re going to stop those scumbags and show ‘em what happens when they mess with the Phantom Thieves!” A hearty slap on the back followed up that statement as Ryuji handed him back his empty bag. He just was a little bit too loud for Akira’s taste. 

“ _Volume~”, he whispered urgently._ Silver eyes flicked over to the store employee again, who started to seem bothered by their presence. He then tilted his head towards the door, motioning for them to get going. “C’mon.”

The streets of the red light district at night weren’t known to be the safest, especially for a bunch of minors. Once they were outside, they made for the station, avoiding eye contact with any of the shadier looking people on the street, trying to vy for their attention and money.

“Wait up!”

Akira paused as he saw a flash of black and white run at him. The feline leaped onto his leg, climbing up his body like a ladder, little wicked claws digging into his clothes ( _and skin- ouch)_ until Akira was able to hold him in his arms.

“Where’d you go?” He asked.

“I was just looking around- did you know that there’s a lady who gives tarot readings? She can see into people’s futures- _might be useful later on~”_

Akira didn’t have it in his heart to tell Mona that it was most likely a scam, and the fortune teller was hustling people to make a quick dollar. That was one thing that he actually was familiar with out in the countryside- there was the town’s local psychic. Giving readings and blessings to those who were curious, or exceedingly desperate- the lady made a good living for herself. However, after encountering the Metaverse, personas, shadows, and the whole shebang, he found his utter rejection and disbelief of magic and the supernatural has lightened up a lot (for good reason). The fortune teller here was probably lying- but there was always the possibility she wasn’t. Maybe she actually could see someone’s fate. Who was he to say?

“You know Kurusu, sometimes I think your cat actually is trying to talk to you.” Mishima squinted his eyes at Mona, more so in humor than in suspicion. 

_If only Mishima knew how right he was._

~ ~ ~

Goro sat on the couch in silence, as he was expected to. Boredly he scrolled through his phone, looking at social media feeds. He was actively ignoring the multiple missed calls and text messages from Akira on it. Reading the messages would be wrong, a sign of a weak resolve. This distance that Goro was putting between them for now was necessary in the long run ( _or something like that)_. It would just keep things a little safer for a little longer. Which was all he needed for this debacle to be resolved.

Him being here, in Shido’s office, lounging on the couch like a menacing attack dog, was more about his appearance and presence than anything. It would serve as a reminder and threat to the lackeys that Shido was getting increasingly fed up with- which was many more than usual. That was perfectly fine with the boy- or at least it was for the first few people. Most of them were underlings, or underlings of underlings, who showed up to represent their cowardly boss. Every time a new face entered the room, Goro took some satisfaction from the way they would tense up when they noticed that he was there. But it was getting increasingly less entertaining the longer he was stuck there, especially when people with smaller and smaller credentials kept piling in through the door. Sucks for them that their bosses were fucking up, and then using them as a mouthpiece, to keep a barrier between them and Shido. It was a weak attempt at protecting themselves too- if things got bad enough the Yakuza would get involved, and if they were to be made an example out of, then Goro would get involved. 

Nothing is quite as terrifying as seeing someone lose their mind before spasming into a series of seizures, bleeding tar from their eyes. Knowing that it was caused by something that ordinary people had no connection to, was pure horror for these egomaniacs- as there was no way for them to have any amount of control.

_One of the reasons he enjoyed traversing the Metaverse in the first place._

A knock on the office door caught his attention. Goro shifted in his seat on the couch, squaring his shoulders back, sitting up straighter and taller. _This would be the meeting he was waiting for-_

“Good afternoon, Shido-san.” An older man popped his head in the door, a cordial smile on his face, until his eye caught the young man off to the side. It wavered at the edges, but he retained it.

_Good, be afraid._

_He should be, at least on a subconscious level, after what Goro did._

“Good afternoon, Director Harada. We have much to discuss.” Shido said, impatience lacing his words.

The SIU director gave a curt bow to the man, and then one to Goro, before walking completely in the room, standing in front of the polished desk. “Right.”

“If my sources are correct, there’s been no significant progress in the Phantom Thieves case?”

It was a statement, even if the phrasing was a question. 

“Well, sir, you have to realize the situation regarding all this-”

_Already getting choked up- how pathetic._

“I do, and I’m getting impatient.” Shido tapped his fingers in an impatient rhythm, “If the Phantom Thieves aren’t found soon, there’s going to be trouble. What exactly has the SIU been doing to amend this situation?”

“No worries sir, I’ve assigned our top prosecutor to the Phantom Thieves case-”

_He was talking about Niijima Sae, no doubt. She was the head prosecutor on the case, it was her responsibility to prove that the Phantom Thieves were a guilty party._

“-Shujin Academy’s administration are also aiding the police in the investigation-”

“Then make them investigate faster- all of them! This has been going on since May- why haven’t I received any information about these _Phantom Thieves-_ ” The last part of Shido’s statement was hissed out from behind his teeth, 

Goro caught the eye of the Director, who was visibly sweating from his brow, tugging at his collar. His pupils were pinpoints, and his adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed nervously. At least the man was smart enough to realize the position he was in.

_Perhaps his meddling was starting to manifest in the real world._

“I understand sir, but-”

“ _I don’t think you do, Director Harada.”_

The Director was _really_ squirming now.

“Do I have to remind you why you’ve retained your position at the SIU for the past two years?” The silence was deafening as the seconds droned on, only to be broken by the bald man. “Find the most suspicious individuals and then make up evidence if you have to- if the Phantom Thieves are utilizing the Metaverse like we think they are, then there won’t be a physical trail of evidence. Plus Director, if your record is indicative of anything, it should be that evidence is secondary to the prosecution, right?” The shit eating, predatory grin (if you could call it that- it was more of a poor mimic of a grin) that settled itself on Shido’s face made Goro want to scoff. Intimidating an old hack like SIU Director was no feat, especially with all the dirt that Shido and Goro collected on him. His “loyalty” had been useful in keeping investigators off their trail. In turn, they didn’t rat him out and tell the public about the forged pieces of evidence that he and the other members of the SIU commonly created to win their cases. If they did, the public uproar would be astronomical.

_If this didn’t make him realize that Shido wouldn’t protect him anymore, then nothing would._

“Ah, right. No worries Shido-san, I will have these Phantom Thieves apprehended in no time.” The faux calm in the Director’s voice was probably the last bit of poise that he was clinging to at the moment.

“Good, because I’m giving you one more month to catch these thugs, and to have a full report, evidence and all, and the Phantom Thieves behind bars. If not, the deal you have with Akechi-san and I will _expire_.” The hiss of the last word hung in the air for a moment, silently echoing in the office.

The Director nodded, “Understandable, Shido-san. I will have the Phantom Thieves charged and jailed before then, mark my words.” Silently bowing, he turned to the door, ready to leave. He stopped only to give a curt nod to Goro, before stepping out of the office and into the hallway, free of the crushing atmosphere.

_What an idiot._ He could only hope that the man realizes that he’s nonessential, that he can be replaced fairly easily- and fairly quickly if need be.

“That will be all for today Akechi. You’re dismissed.” With a wave of his hand, Shido spun around in his chair, back facing Goro.

“Right, I’ll be in contact if anything changes on my end.” _There would be no change, because he’s not going to tell anyone about the Phantom Thieves._ Shido would never know that, though.

He got a grunt in response- _lovely._

After Goro excused himself, and left the office, a large sigh trickled out from his nose. What a waste of time this all was. At least he knew that the SIU Director has a time limit now- one that he had encouraged Shido to enforce ( _both in his office, and aboard a certain cruiseliner_ ). The Director- for lack of better terms- was starting to become a nuisance. While he was essentially being blackmailed by Shido, he still employed the “services” that Goro offered to Shido and his allies, and recently it was becoming more frequent. It mainly consisted of collecting information that could be used as blackmail against others, but it still took up time (that he rather be doing anything else with)- and frankly the amount of power that SIU Director held over many mundane smaller institutions was disgusting. However, it did make dealing with cases quickly and quietly possible, especially with the amount of shit that the bald bastard and his associates did.

Thinking about it was riling him up, he could feel his fingernails digging into his palms through the leather of his gloves, as he unconsciously started clenching his fists. Raggedy deep breaths through his nose, and unfurling his hands helped him calm down a bit, but the latent anger was still there. Society would never be okay with the existence of people like Director Harada and Shido. Selfishly ripping others down around them, threatening them, coercing them into giving them anything they wanted.

But he could still get revenge for people like himself, like his mother- even people like Akira… Those who had been wronged by society and then promptly shunned. If it all burned down tomorrow, the city, the government, society at large, Goro knew he wouldn’t care. It was a long time coming if anything. But he needed to check a few things off his own “to do” list first before the world caved in on itself. 

First, the most pressing matter at hand, was to amend this situation with the SIU and their investigation at Shujin Academy. It wouldn’t be too hard now that there was a set deadline and calendar for the Director and the Phantom Thieves. Not to mention that the man no longer was sitting safely in the confines of Shido’s disgusting ship, which made him an easy target for an eager bunch of vigilantes. Harada had approximately until around the time the festivals would be in July, which means that the Thieves had to stop him at least a few days prior to that, but preferably sooner. It would make his job easier, the less time Harada had to forge documents. He had to make sure he was acting at the exact right time in this though, which meant he would need to shadow the Thieves and check in on their progress exactly.

That in itself was a problem. Akira had promptly shown him that he didn’t trust Goro with his secret, in their last meet up. Following the Phantom Thieves in the Metaverse was an option, but he wouldn’t be able to guess when they were there accurately, if he wasn’t in their loop of information. He had too much to do in the real world to just merely “guess and check” in the Metaverse whenever he thought they might be there. Not to mention, he had been ignoring Akira’s messages for the past few days, which was probably doing him no favors in getting the boy to tell him about his escapades into the Metaverse. 

Going into the Metaverse in itself was a risk- his black horned helm and striped bodysuit didn’t exactly come across as friendly, and god forbid if he was recognized. He could probably use his other persona, but the white prince suit wasn’t very good for sneaking around undetected (too many glitzy gold pieces on it, he stuck out like a sore thumb in shadows and the dark). None of this was ideal if he was being completely honest.

_He'd have to work with it._

While waiting for the train going back to Kichijoji, Goro scrolled through his phone, hesitating for a moment as he looked at Akira’s unopened text messages. The slight anxiety that tried to crawl into his throat was banished as he opened the chain and read through them. The oldest messages were ones inviting him to places or Leblanc to hang out together, while the newest ones were questioning if he was okay. Guilt roiled around in his stomach, as he read each one. Once he had gone through all of them, he swiftly typed up a response, sending it.

The sound of the train made his head perk up as the crowd around him started shifting closer towards the platform, preparing to switch places with the people on board. Quickly he turned off his phone’s screen, and got ready to board.

_Hopefully things would work out._

~ ~ ~

Sitting around the student council’s table, eating lunch was a new experience. Akira couldn’t say it was entirely unpleasant, in fact the lack of eyes, stares, and murmurs aimed at him was a nice change of pace. Instead of random students and classmates leering at him though, he now had Makoto- who was still adjusting to the Phantom Thieves (at least the ones that went to Shujin). At least she was trying to act friendlier towards them now- or at least that’s how he had interpreted the invite to eat in the student council’s room as from now on.

Still, every so often he would catch her staring at him from the corner of his eye. It looked like she was trying to figure out if he was bullshitting her about the Metaverse, Phantom Thieves, and everything else going on.

_Which was fair-_

Collectively, he, Ann, and Ryuji managed to explain to her the gist of the Metaverse (with Morgana trying to give his two cents every now and then, even though Makoto couldn’t understand him.) More importantly, they explained what actually happened to Kamoshida back in May, and the events that led up to them deciding to steal his treasure and change his heart. There was an uncomfortable portion of the conversation, where they had admitted that they weren’t certain that Kamoshida would survive the rapid change of his cognition. 

But Akira was surprised by how the student council president didn’t protest, or scold them about their reckless behavior. The most notable thing had been that her expression had looked empty, eyes cloudy with an emotion that was hard to pin down.

Ann the same day, late into the hours of the night, had called him. She had sounded concerned, and in a low tone as if she was afraid someone would hear, told him about the apology that the school’s president has given to her after hearing them out. Makoto apologized to Ann for, in her words, “being ignorant, and allowing such grotesque actions to happen” to Ann and Suzui.

Guilt was something that Akira was familiar with.

Guilt over inaction was something that he was even more familiar with, and had suffered from for years.

As much as Ann reassured Makoto that it was Kamoshida’s fault during her apology, Akira knows that her words would ring hollowly in their upperclassman’s ears. The girl doesn’t want forgiveness. Forgiveness doesn’t ease the emptiness.

_He would know._

So, _when every so often did happen_ , and Akira caught a pair of red eyes staring at him, it no longer unnerved him. He knew that she wanted to apologize to him too, but something was holding her back. Maybe it was her trying to figure out the right words, or trying to muster up the gusto to do it. Akira was fine with waiting though, since she was on their side now. There was no rush. He could wait for it.

“So did you manage to confirm the identity of the blackmailer?” Makoto asked, those sharp eyes hopeful. She had papers and a neatly packed lunch all laid out in front of her, multitasking her way through their free period.

“Yeah. It’s Harada Touma, the SIU Director, like we suspected.” Akira mumbled around the curry he was eating.

Ryuji chipped in and nodded, his mouth stuffed with bread that he bought at the school’s store. A succinct _“mmhm”_ was all he could muster at the moment without choking.

“We confirmed it with an investigative journalist, as well as forced it out of the principal’s shadow!” A loud meow came from the book bag under Akira’s seat.

A sigh left the blonde girl sitting across from Akira, “She can’t understand you Mona.” She turned to Makoto, twirling a piece of her hair around her finger as she did so, “We did double check though, with a journalist and in the Metaverse. There’s solid proof that this guy is behind all of it.”

The quick nod of Makoto’s head contradicted the bite to her bottom lip- a nervous tic. “That’s good.” She paused, before continuing, training her face into one of calm. “So did you check that the Director has a palace?”

It was almost humorous the way that palace came out of her mouth, like it was a curse word, or dirty in nature. She was obviously uncomfortable saying it. But, the Metaverse, palaces, shadows, and the like did all sound overly fantastical, especially to someone who’s never stepped inside it. 

“Yup! It got a hit!” Apparently Ryuji had finished swallowing his lunch. “We just gotta figure out the rest of the key words.”

_“Key words?”_

_Right, they didn’t explain that part did they-_

“They describe what the Director’s cognitive distortion would be. Like how Kamoshida viewed himself as the king of Shujin.” Akira tried to explain briefly. There was a lot more to it- _or least Morgana made it out to be-_ but frankly he wasn’t in the mood to explain in depth about something he wasn’t even one hundred percent certain about.

_Plus, talking was exhausting sometimes~_

“We just need to pin those down, then we’re good to go!” The happy chirp that came from Ann made the situation sound a lot more peppy than it was-

_-But he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t beyond hyped to dive back into a palace._

“Oh, well- do you have any ideas for the key words?” Makoto asked.

_No._

“Not exactly.” Akira murmured, paying more attention to his lunch at the moment. 

The location would be easier to infer- _probably-_ but the exact distortion would be a challenge to guess offhandedly. He had some ideas from what Ohya told him for the spot of the distortion, but not a clue on how the man viewed himself. Akira didn’t doubt that it was most likely something as cartoonish and vain as Kamoshida and Madarame’s shadows- something that was meant to be an exaggerated amplification of how he saw his position in society.

“How do you plan on getting them, then? From the sounds of it, guessing isn’t an effective method.” Those red eyes narrowed. Clearly, Makoto was already trying to formulate some sort of suggestion- the quirk of her eyebrows gave it away.

“We would have to do more investigating. What the journalist told us is a good starting point, but it’s not enough.” Subconsciously he started twisting his bangs between his fingers, trying to think of how it would even be possible to spy on the SIU Director. No doubt the man would be sitting comfortably in a government building, with plenty of security. Akira could feel that lowly pang of desperation and worry gnaw at his stomach, and he was becoming all too aware of his heartbeat.

His silver eyes flickered over to the concerned looks that the two blondes next to him were giving him. They knew as well as he did that this was getting complicated ( _not to mention dangerous- he would prefer not going to jail, thank you very much)._ During their meet up with Yusuke yesterday after school, they already determined that they would have to get more information about Harada; anything about his mannerisms, beliefs- stuff that could potentially contribute to his twisted cognition at all. 

_“We’re working on it-”_

Soft contemplative humming rang lowly in his ears, causing him to glance over to the brunette sitting beside him. 

Makoto’s eyes were shut as she started talking, “I want to help if I can.” Her eyelids opened as she observed everyone seated at the table. “Funny enough, my sister works with the SIU and their director quite often. I could ask her about him, if that helps at all.”

“No way- you’re not joking are you?” Ryuji’s eyes widened as his jaw nearly dropped.

“That’s huge! Of course we want your help!” Ann shook the table as her hands slapped down on the surface.

Akira’s hands stopped fiddling with his hair, and he peered at the girl next to him thoughtfully. 

_Maybe things wouldn’t be as bad as he thought._

The rest of the school day went by fairly quickly. Akira only caught bits and pieces of the lectures here and there, more preoccupied with how he should start preparing for the next palace. Coffee worked wonders for replenishing magic, and he could always brew some up during the night when Leblanc was closed. He also had a ‘professional’ relationship with that shifty doctor (as professional as a lab rat-scientist relationship could be), as well as some sort of mutual agreement between him and the owner of Untouchable Airsofts (who he was pretty sure was a criminal or in some sort of gang). So he was covered on the supply front, he wasn’t sure what to expect in the new palace, so he would probably have to switch up his personas later on (and have a nice chat with Igor again- yay~) once he got a feel for it. Tonight he was mostly going to spend on making lock picks and some smoke bombs, which would definitely make navigating the palace easier (if past experience was applicable). 

As he was heading out of his classroom, saying bye to Ann and giving a quick wave to Mishima as he passed by, he checked his phone. He knew that he got a few messages during class, and only confirmed it when he saw his text app had several notifications in the corner of its icon. When he started scrolling through his messages, he saw that he got an update from the school therapist, saying he was available to chat again if Akira wanted to stop by.

_Maybe another time- he was busy at the moment._

The next message was from Makoto, saying that she would be asking her sister questions about the SIU and its director tonight. She would send him an update on any information she got.

_Thank god- the sooner this was all over, the better._

Glancing over the last message, he stopped walking for a moment, surprised to see a response from Goro. It had been almost a week since he heard from him. Eagerly he opened the text chain.

“ _Sorry for not answering sooner, I got caught up with work. “_

_“If you’re free tonight, I’d love to meet up.”_

Akira had to restrain himself from immediately responding, and instead rubbed the back of his neck as he reread the texts over and over. 

_He could make time, right?_

He wanted to. But he needed to devote time to the Phantom Thieves and prepping for their next mission. 

_But Goro..._

“Why’d we stop moving?” A cat head popped out from behind his shoulder, looking down at what he was preoccupied with at the moment. The sigh that followed made Akira want to shove his phone back into his pocket and pretend that he never saw the text- because he knew Morgana was heavily judging him now. “Akira…” There’s the slightly exasperated tone he was expecting.

“I haven’t heard from him in a week, Mona.”

“But we have to prepare. I saw your checklist you made during class today, we have things ‘ _to do_ ’ before we go into the palace!” The amount of sass was palpable.

“Mona-” It came out like a plea.

“Akira.” And his hopes were crushed instantaneously.

_Fine._

_He would be responsible- for today._

“Okay, okay. I’ll postpone.” His voice sounded a lot more pathetic and sad than he wanted it to in that moment. He kept his promise though, and typed out an apology, followed with a question to reschedule, hoping that Goro would understand. Honestly he felt slimy sending it, but it was necessary.

_First, deal with the SIU Director, and then he could go run off with Goro and figure out what was up with him._

Akira nodded to himself in faux-reassurance as he marched down the stairs of Shujin.

_This was for the best._

~ ~ ~

Makoto could feel the nerves building up in her stomach. They buzzed dully as she started setting plates on the table, getting ready for dinner. Sae would be home soon. But Makoto knew that their time together would be brief, as it always was. They would eat dinner together, maybe talk for a moment, and then Sae would go to sleep and leave in the early hours of the morning for work. That’s how it's always been.

Her sister was a cold person, Makoto knew that much. She changed drastically since it became just the two of them looking out for each other. Sae was barely an adult when their father died. Immediately she was bombarded with all the responsibilities of a guardian, of organizing a funeral, and for finding a new place for them to live in that they could afford. It had been hard, thankfully their dad’s life insurance covered some of their expenses for a while, but Sae had pushed for years to get a job that could support them both. And she did, but it wasn’t good enough. In her strife to establish a stable income and life, Sae had put all her energy and focus on her career. She rarely spends time at home, she doesn’t have any friends outside of work, and Makoto knows that their sibling relationship wasn’t anything impressive. 

Her job seemed to be the only thing that mattered to her anymore, and it wasn’t surprising. After struggling to push her way through a male dominated field, herself being her only advocate in the workplace, she gained a bit of an edge. Sharp words, a killer gaze, and a domineering attitude really were a deadly combo. Sae was respected as one of the best prosecutors in Tokyo, and she wasn’t going to let anybody forget it.

It was the reason why Makoto was starting to get cold feet asking her older sister about her job, and more specifically her boss and coworkers. If Sae had been like any other employee, who openly talked about the people in their office, and what they were up to, it would be no big deal. But, Sae was rather vague when she talked about people at work. Often avoiding dropping actual names and position titles of whoever she was describing, often just referring to them as “co-worker” in any of her stories. (It had taken Makoto actually meeting Akechi Goro, _the small time celebrity detective,_ to connect that the “young man” that often helped Sae at work, was him.) Confidentiality was definitely something that her sister took to the extreme.

“I’m home!”

Makoto nearly dropped the silverware she was holding when she heard her sister’s voice call from the front door.

_She needed to calm down._

_She could do this._

_It was just Sae._

“Welcome back, Sis! I’m setting the table for dinner, it should be done in a few minutes.”

Inevitably, within ten minutes, after Sae had changed clothes and wiped off her makeup, they sat together at their small dining table, eating in silence. There was a new scrunch to Sae’s brow, obviously she was still thinking hard about something. A grimace graced her face as she chewed her food, eyes foggy as she was lost in thought.

_Probably a case-_

“Hey, so how was work today?”

_God, she wished her voice hadn’t pitched up toward the end._

Russet eyes abandoned staring intensely at their food, and instead switched over to her face. They seemed to be appraising her, until eventually their sharpness dulled into something less confrontational. “Work has been busier than usual, but that’s not exactly a bad thing. I’ve been assigned to a big case by the Special Investigations Unit Director, himself.” A small satisfied smile rested upon her lips. “This could be a big break for me.”

_Perfect, she brought up the SIU herself!_

“That’s great, I know you’ve been working towards a promotion for a while. You’ll definitely get it!” Makoto paused for a breath. “What’s it like working with the SIU and their director anyway?”

That always present look of suspicion reappeared in Sae’s face, but then smoothed out to something more relaxed. “Oh, are you thinking about studying law in college, or working there in the future, Makoto?”

“It’s definitely a possibility. I just like knowing what my options are.” That wasn’t exactly a lie either. Makoto really didn’t have any idea about what she wanted to do in the future. Thinking about life beyond school was mildly terrifying if she was honest with herself.

“Understandable,” The woman crossed her arms as she started talking. “The SIU only takes on serious cases that the legal system deem necessary to take a further look into, usually ones that involve violent crimes, police officers or officials, or if there’s a suspected bias witness or a dishonest witness. As you can imagine, dealing with such things on a daily basis can make the people who work there a bit… rough around the edges.”

“Oh, and what about the Director, is he like that too?”

“I believe he was at one point when he was a prosecutor back in the day, since he doesn’t partake in cases and investigations anymore and just oversees them, he’s much more laxed from what I hear.”

“Isn’t that a bit strange? If I were the director I would feel anything but calm if I had to oversee such serious investigations and court proceedings.”

“I mean I agree with you, but the Director has had his position for years now- he probably will, until he eventually retires. Who knows how long that will be, he’s an older man- he should be more worried about his health and family at this point than his career.”

“Did he promise you a promotion with this new case?”

The silent sigh that left Sae’s nose was telling, “Yes.”

_It wasn’t a guarantee, then. He was using her just like how he was using the principal._

“Why do you think he hasn’t retired yet?” Makoto rested her head on her palm.

“Who’s to say? He may just enjoy working, I know he has met and made many different connections and associates throughout his career, especially after becoming the Director.” A look of inquiry passed through Sae’s expression.

She was pressing too much to know about the Director, but she didn’t know how else to ask. Diverting attention away from him was the best choice for now. “Maybe you’ll get his job when he retires?”

“Wishful thinking, but that would be quite the reward if it did happen.”

“Don’t knock the possibility, Sis. You’re one of the best prosecutors in the country, anyone who doesn’t acknowledge that is foolish.”

Buttering up Sae wasn’t exactly too hard, Makoto could see that small sparkle in her eyes. She hadn’t seen her sister excited in a while- it was refreshing to see her looking forward to something, even if it was about something as mundane as her job. That promotion was long overdue for a while now.

“What kind of connections does a SIU Director have by the way, you mentioned that the current director has a lot of them.” Hopefully that came across as casual, and not super nosey.

“He talks to a lot of people, people within the police department, the Prosecutor’s Office, people and organizations who are involved in cases- he also is a philanthropist, donates a lot of money to schools and education.”

“So he oversees a lot, not only work but people it sounds like. Interesting-”

“You know if you’re so interested I could take you in for a tour. The SIU is also looking for interns to handle their clerical work if you want to get started on making connections now- _might be a good thing to put on a college application_.”

_The last thing she wanted to think about right now was applying to college._

“I’ll think about it. I’m actually pretty busy with school and preparing for entrance exams right now. The Student Council has had their hands full.” She tried to sound cheery, but it came out pained in her ears. The last few months since she was put up to shadowing the Phantom Thieves have been hellish.

A phone ringing nearby cut off Sae from whatever she was going to say, as she looked over her shoulder. “That’s mine, one minute.” Neatly she got out of her chair and shoved it back into the table, going to pick up the call. No doubt, it was probably her job- another common occurrence during her quick stops at home.

Sae peaked her head out from the kitchen and called out. “Makoto, I’m going to head back into the office. There’s new evidence that needs to be examined-” 

_So, she’d be eating dinner alone again..._

“It’s alright. I’ll box up your dinner for later, when you get back.” The girl got up, already heading to the tupperware drawer in their kitchen. It was pretty much an automatic response at this point. All of the times that Sae had to go back into work, outnumbered the times that she ate dinner at home.

“Sorry to run out on you like this- after this case, things will be different. I promise.” The words felt hollow, as the woman returned to her room down the hallway and put herself together. She only came back out into the living area once she was adorned in her typical business suit, hair and makeup expertly done again, and heels clicking against the flooring. 

“Bye, Makoto.”

“Bye, Sae.”

And once again, she was alone, with nobody but herself, her thoughts, and the dinner (that she made herself) at the table, that was getting cold. 

At least she got a little bit of information regarding the SIU Director. Helping the Phantom Thieves was the only thing that she felt sure about in the moment. They weren’t criminals- at least not the same ones who had caused the mental shutdowns. They cared for the wellbeing of others, even if their way of going about it was rather unconventional- but she couldn’t fault them for that. After learning about what position they had been in, for both Kamoshida and Madarame, she would have done the same thing (that was if she could use the _Metaverse_ like them). Aiding them by collecting information was one of the only ways she could help them.

Quickly cleaning up after dinner, washing her own dishes, and then boxing up Sae’s leftovers, she moved to the couch afterward. Her red eyes scrutinized the group chat she was included in with the rest of the Phantom Thieves, as she sent a few texts. Eyes sometimes darting to the front door of her apartment, as if she was afraid she would be caught in the act. She would be able to explain it better tomorrow in person, but the messages would be good enough for now.

~ ~ ~

Sitting around a table in the Big Bang Burger with the rest of the Thief Gang (plus Makoto, who had given a detailed explanation of what her older sister had told her last night) was an experience. Akira was enjoying some fries during their brainstorming session, and had gladly bought Yusuke a cheeseburger too (not the healthiest, but he was just happy that the skinny boy was eating). The new information that Makoto had shared with them wasn’t revolutionary, but it did stitch together some of the missing pieces about the Director’s personality. 

He felt safe in his job. His connections and influence over others was something that he reveled in, and was one of the reasons why he wouldn’t retire- regardless of his old age. Since it seemed like he preferred to assign work to others, rather than go about it himself, he probably fancied an image of himself that was administrative, maybe more practical, rather than lofty and fantastical like Kamoshida and Madarame.

“So where would an old man like the Director have a palace?” Ryuji’s elbows were on the table as he sipped on his soda through a straw.

“The Prosecutors Office and the Police Station were both rejected by the MetaNav, it’s kind of hard to think of where else his distortion would take place.” The blonde girl sitting next to him sighed, before taking a lick of her soft serve ( _which was starting to melt_ ).

“Since he has connections throughout the city, would it be preposterous to think that the location of his palace would be Tokyo itself?” Yusuke mumbled through a mouth full of burger. He at least has the decency to cover his mouth with his hand as he spoke.

“Can a palace even be that big?” Akira asked, looking to his local Metaverse expert, who was watching intently from his book bag on the floor.

_Cats could apparently shrug._ Morgana gave him a “dunno” from underneath the table.

“Let’s try it.” He held out his phone so the rest of the table could see. “All of Tokyo.”

The reciprocating chirp of his phone, signalling that there was a match was promising. The energy at the table just shifted from stone cold serious to nervous anxiety. They were so close now.

“Let’s finish up lunch and then head outside to guess the last word.” Akira quietly offered, cramming more fries into his mouth afterward.

He didn’t miss the side eye that Ann gave him and the cheesy grin that Ryuji was struggling to hide. Even Makoto was failing to hide the slightest smirk.

“You’re gross!” A gently kitty smack graced his calf.

Fifteen minutes later, after scarfing down lunch, and nearly choking on fries because he started laughing at Morgana, Akira was sipping on water outside in an alley. Ryuji still was snickering at him, the once panic and concern he had, gone. Otherwise everyone else was heatedly aiming their guesses at his phone, whisper shouting at the MetaNav. So far they have determined that “Castle” (because who knows if lightning would strike twice) and “Palace” ( _props for the originality there)_ did not work.

“He might be more down to Earth than we initially thought.” Morgana hummed, sitting on the ground in front of everyone, swiping at his whiskers.

“From what Makoto told us, it sounds like he’s been a part of the SIU for a substantial amount of time, perhaps that has influenced how he views things?” Yusuke’s suggestion caused the rest of the group to nod in agreement.

“Think practically, not grandeur- got it.” Akira chipped in, finally feeling like he could talk again without hacking. He squared his shoulders and pushed up his glasses, ready to get to the bottom of things.

“Maybe a firm, where he’s an executive. Some kind of corporate office!” Ann’s hopeful voice turned into a whine when the MetaNav rejected it outright.

“He likes to manage people, including his staff and outsiders that he has connections through with either work or money… A hotel?” Makoto huffed when she too was shot down.

“He forges evidence right, so he’s trying to play judge or something? Try courthouse-” Ryuji shrugged his shoulders as he leaned against the wall of the alley.

_“That’s too obviou-”_

Morgana was cut off by a robotic confirmation and the morphing of the real world into black and red swirls. The Metaverse materialized around them, and the familiar embrace of Akira’s thief costume clung to him.

_Finally~_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoop!  
> New chapter soon hopefully, I will try to post again before the end of the month!

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first piece of fan fiction that I've written in a long time, so if you stuck around until the end thank you so much!  
> I'm trying to get back into writing as a whole so I thought that this AU which has been stuck in my head for a bit now would be a fun and cute way to do so! I'm going to try to update this fic throughout the summer, working on weekly updates hopefully, but there's no set schedule for now!  
> Let me know what you think!  
> Thank you guys, hope that you're having a lovely day!  
> You can find more stuff that I make on tumblr here: https://spaceteacake.tumblr.com/


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